Sommer & Staff Constructions Ltd
Sustainable Pty Ltd is forming an exciting new alliance with Sommer & Staff Pty Ltd to provide quality building expertise across all areas of construction in residential, commercial, retail and industrial. The joint entity ‘Sustainable Construction’ will become the leading Queensland based construction company, specialising in the creation of sustainable buildings.
Sommer & Staff prides itself on these key elements for success:
• Rigorous management protocols to ensure clients' requirements are met by responsible attention to detail
• Property and development expertise and astute investment skills married with considerable construction savvy that consistently reward clients with successful investments
• Successful projects all over Queensland, northern NSW and overseas East Asia and the South Pacific. Distance is not an issue.
Sommer & Staff have won many awards for excellence in the construction industry and has strong quality assurance systems place having been awarded the international certification to AS/NZS ISO 9002. Visit their website
click here.
Sustainable Pty Ltd brings a new level of expertise in the area of sustainability to the alliance and will provide the complete design team, able to manage the integration of sustainable concepts with Sommer & Staff’s construction ‘best practice’ approach. Sustainable has developed a leading reputation for its unique ‘design-construct’ services and is highly regarded for developing designer architectural homes in some of Brisbane’s most exclusive suburbs. Sustainable is one of the most respected design companies in Queensland having won almost 40 high level industry awards including the HIA Greensmart Home of the Year.
This alliance will free up Brett McKenzie from the day to day management of the construction business to enable him to further develop the various companies within the Sustainable Group. These companies all share the same values and commitment to sustainability and have a common goal of “Bringing the built environment to life”.
Brett sees the education of the market as imperative to the success of sustainable development. Brett says “People often dismiss sustainability as they see it as an added cost. What those people do not take into account is the true cost, both financially and environmentally, of getting water and electricity to their front door. That's where the education process is absolutely imperative”. Often the extra cost associated with sustainable design is recouped in savings gained for energy usage, within the first 2 years.
“This is an exciting time for Sustainable Pty Ltd. The opportunity to create a complete solution across all aspects of Sustainability is now very real. We have the chance to become “the voice for sustainability in construction”, to really make a difference to the industry we work in and the environment in which we lead our lives”.
Walter Sommer
Walter H. Sommer is the Founder and Chairman of Sommer and Staff Constructions Pty Ltd. His natural organising and management talents brought him from the hardships of a fourteen year old apprentice mason in post war Germany, via a carpentry apprenticeship in Sydney where his master made him joinery workshop foreman, to becoming foreman of a million dollar maintenance workshop and office project in Pyrmont, all by age twenty one.
Walter went on to work in a number of executive positions, initially as a site manager, then as Operations Manager (NSW) for a national project builder, before his appointment as General Superintendent for the construction of the township of Gove in the Northern Territory. Some three years of this period of learning the business of building was spent in Bougainville with the New Guinea Biological Foundation where he was responsible for the construction of a range of housing and industrial buildings. In 1974, at the age of thirty three, Walter established Sommer & Staff with four of his colleagues.
Walter Sommer invests his time in people. He is a trustee of the Queensland Master Builders Association, chairman of Building Industry Group Apprentice Training, and of Construction Training Queensland. He is a member of the newly formed Queensland's Training and Employment Board.
Brett McKenzie
In ten years Brett McKenzie has carved an enviable niche as a highly specialised designer-builder of architecturally stunning sustainable buildings.
The McKenzie Building story begins in the Gatton region where he trained as an Apprentice Carpenter and Joiner, working on a wide range of domestic, commercial and industrial construction projects.
His talents were quickly recognised with Brett being awarded Queensland Apprentice of the Year for Carpentry and Joinery in 1984. Demonstrating skills and maturity beyond his years, it wasn't long before Brett was promoted by his employer to company building supervisor with responsibility for eight employees in addition to dozens of self-employed sub-contractors. After successfully proving himself for several years in this demanding role, broader challenges beckoned and Brett left Australia to gain invaluable overseas construction industry training and experience.
On his return to Australia in 1994 Bret established McKenzie Building in Brisbane. McKenzie Building's reputation has been built on the company's commitment to innovative contemporary design and construction methods, particularly respect for the environment by adopting sensitive design utilising sustainable materials and energy efficiency. For the past 10 years McKenzie Building has led the Queensland building sector in incorporating these considerations into its housing design and construction processes.
