When Scott McDonald, Operations Manager at Shape Construction decided to construct new company offices, it was a given they would be built using shipping containers.

After all, the Christchurch-based container modification company has developed a reputation for creating upmarket, high-performance homes and offices based around just such material.

With a sturdy, pre-built foundation as the starting point, finished homes and offices can often be delivered in a fraction of the time it would take to complete a regular build. "It’s very important for us to bring our build times down so that clients can get in there earlier,” says Scott.

The usual process of building a house can be a time consuming one — working with an architect, waiting for consent and managing various trades. “We were specifically looking to showcase how prefab options could make build times much shorter than the time it would take for a normal house,” says Scott, “So for the Christchurch office fit-out, a quickly installed, prefabricated interior was very much the plan.”

Innovative Solution

While surveying the options available, Scott discovered Climate Surfaces — suppliers of pre-coated wall lining solutions for both commercial and residential applications. “I knew we’d found what we were looking for and that the Climateline product was going to save us a lot of time,” says Scott.

From the outset, hard-wearing Climateline Finished Plasterboard looked like a miracle solution. No plastering or painting was required, installation was easy as it scores and snaps just like normal plasterboard. “It ticked a whole range of things for us,” says Scott. “It cut out the plastering time that is usually required with traditional fit-outs. Usually, you’d affix the gib, plaster it and then paint it. That can typically take two and a half weeks there for a space like this. We cut that time down to four or five days.”

Shape Construction chose to install the boards with the colour matched slimline jointer horizontally. This minimised vertical seams for a clean, near-monolithic finish, perfectly complementing the smart but industrial feel of the premises. “With Climateline, you just put the panel up, put the jointers on and the job is done. It’s already painted, it’s already finished, and you don’t have to touch it after.”

And though speed of installation and quality of finish were the core must-haves for Scott, it came as a pleasant surprise to find that the Climateline range is very competitive in terms of price. “Per square meter, it was around $7 cheaper than a traditional job,” says Scott.

New Zealand made and available in a range of colours and jointing options, Scott says the Climateline product is now something Shape Construction offers clients looking for a superior prefab interior panel option.

“Time-wise, cost-wise, it was a no brainer,” says Scott, “So yes, we’re now we're offering it to our clients as well.”

Now that the installation is complete, Scott says the whole process — from first contact to finished installation — couldn’t have been easier.