The 2012 award was presented to to Brendan Lindsey of Dominion Contructors.

Brendan was just a 7-year-old when he was first introduced to building by his father, a self-employed carpenter. He helped out on his father’s jobs on weekends and during school holidays right through his high school years at Auckland Boys’ Grammar. He then enrolled in the Construction Management degree course at Unitec and after a couple of years into his degree he applied for an undergraduate construction co-ordinator role advertised on the Unitec noticeboard. This was with Multiplex and he landed an entry-level role with them on the Metropolis Apartments project in Auckland. His role there developed over time and his work on the project was noticed by senior management.

He was subsequently given more responsibility and gained valuable experience. In 2003 he left New Zealand on his ‘OE’ and ended up in the UK. He contacted Multiplex UK and was immediately offered a role as site supervisor on the West India Quay Marriott Hotel and Apartments. Reporting to a well-respected Australian construction manager – who still remains a friend and mentor – Brendan went from strength to strength developing his experience and ended up taking more responsibility.

Then, at 27 years old, he was promoted to construction manager on what was then the tallest residential tower in the UK. He saw the project through to completion, with the help of his young team. His next project was the 199 Knightsbridge Apartments where he was responsible for seeing the completion of the apartments through to handover. This project eventually won the UK Residential Development Project of the year in 2006 for the high standard of its finished. In 2005 he was headhunted by Parsons Brinkerhoff to work on the iconic Palm Jumeirah Development in Dubai as a superintendent on the infrastructure works on the island.

However, he found the civil role unchallenging and so he took up an offer to work in a senior role for Laing O’Rourke / Kerzner International on the 1539 room Atlantis Hotel. His role and profile on that project opened doors for Brendan in the Middle East and in 2008 he was offered a senior position at Nakeel – as senior project manager on the Trump International Hotel and Tower. He had responsibility for managing over 160 staff and liaised regularly with the Trump family. His next project was the Abu Dhabi Financial Centre on Sowwah Island, which incorporated four high-rise commercial buildings and the UAE stock exchange.

In 2010 Brendan and his wife returned home to New Zealand and he joined Dominion Constructors as project manager on the Audi Terminal project. Brendan had already had dealings with Alf and Brett Russell through the Metropolis project and he says he had great respect for the company’s family values way they treated people. Brendan says that he sets goals on a personal level outside of work and cites his travels with his partner to far flung places as highlights, including climbing mountains, running a 100km marathon in England, diving in the Red Sea, camping in the Arabian desert, watching Formula One in Abu Dhabi and snowboarding in the Swiss Alps.

Brendan is Dominion’s youngest senior project manager and Brett Russell says Brendan’s work on the Audi project ensured a strong team environment from staff, consultants and subcontractors and met all expectations while maintaining his work / life balance including the pressure and excitement of the birth of his first child.