There were three finalists in the James Hardie Innovation category: 

• Brent Wade & Kirsty Lightfoot, Hawkins Central (Zespri Recycling Kiosk, Tauranga)
• Baran Balaban, Spiral Drillers Civil (Team Workshop, Auckland)
• Gary Lepine, TLC Modular (Volumetric Construction Modules, Christchurch) 

One Excellence award was presented in this category. 

Baran Balaban of Spiral Drillers Civil in Auckland was awarded Excellence for his work on the Team Workshop initiative. Baran was also the Category Winner. Team Workshop develops project-specific construction tools and equipment by using an innovative problem-solving approach. While each innovation is different, the aim is the same, to substitute labour-intensive work with bespoke innovation. Each helps to improve safety, productivity and quality. The Team Workshop approach responds to on-site obstacles by designing and constructing specialised equipment to do the job. The judges said the innovations produced measurable production savings, and improved health and safety results by removing difficult manual tasks, resulting in a ‘win-win’ for all stakeholders on the job.

A few words from Baran...

Special thanks to our directors Jon Faber, Andrew Hannah, and our general manager Geoff Paton. Winning this Award couldn’t have happened without their support.  As a specialist contractor, we are proud to be acknowledged by our New Zealand construction and building industry peers. I think innovation is about teamwork, and it is great for the `Team Workshop` at Spiral Drillers to have their efforts recognised.