Carlaw Park Student Village sets the standard for student accommodation in New Zealand. This modern, bright, vibrant precinct replaces Carlaw Park’s muddy rugby league pitches, providing first-class living facilities for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The Challenge
To provide the full range of electrical services to a large-scale construction project in an extremely tight timeframe.

The University of Auckland engaged DGE to do the full fit-out of stages one and two of the Carlaw Park Student Village, providing warm, comfortable, self-catering accommodation to almost 700 of its students. The project had an ambitious timeframe of just 18 months.

The Scope
The Carlaw Park Student Village construction included seven multi-level buildings, common areas, an atrium, and an underground car park. 

Within the 18-month project timeframe, DGE had to wire and connect all the electrical services for 213 modern apartments with 698 bedrooms, 164 undercroft commuter car parks and 650m2 of common amenity spaces. The apartments, which ranged from two to four bedrooms, contained full kitchens, heat pumps, wall heaters, internet connections, and enough powerpoints to accommodate everyone’s devices and appliances. Additionally, there was a large communal kitchen, a games room, and a laundry with banks of washing machines and dryers. The complex also needed to supply enough continuous hot water for up to 700 students.

The Solution
DGE used their extensive experience and meticulous planning to provide a highly efficient service while sticking to a comprehensive schedule.

A project of this magnitude was always going to be a challenge to complete within the-18 month timeframe, so DGE worked closely with development company Haydn & Rollett to ensure everything was completed on schedule. Stage one of this challenging build involved the simultaneous construction of four apartment towers of between five and seven storeys. Stage two concentrated on the common areas and the landscaped podiums that connected the buildings.

DGE drew on their specialist knowledge and experience to work systematically through each stage of the project and get through the enormous volume of work efficiently without compromising on quality. 

The Outcome
Thanks in part to DGE’s tight project management and close communication with the developers, Carlaw Park Student Village was able to open to students on deadline. 

This village is now Auckland University’s most desirable student accommodation and has set the quality benchmark for all future student housing. The developers were so impressed with DGE’s work that they have engaged them to work on stage three, which adds 203 extra apartments with the capacity to house 906 students.

Don’t hesitate to contact us here at DGE, a team you can trust to get the job done!