A spectacular finish! NZIBES 2023 concludes as NZCBIA Excellence Award winners are announced — revisit the highlights in minutes!

The exhibition

 

The 2023 New Zealand International Building Expo & Summit (NZIBES) concluded successfully on 12 August.

 

As one of New Zealand's largest and most influential construction and property industry events, the New Zealand International Building Expo & Summit (NZIBES) has attracted countless businesses and brands over the years. Alongside well-known domestic and international construction and building materials brands and products, participants have included developers, builders, real estate agencies, and companies in insurance, finance, legal services and other fields.

 

This is the first year since the end of the COVID pandemic. With New Zealand's borders fully reopened, many overseas brands and products are eager to enter the country's construction market. Numerous major domestic and international brands made their debut at the expo, bringing fresh energy to New Zealand's property and construction sector.

 

A particular highlight was the International Pavilion, with Homehopper as its naming sponsor. Alongside a prominent presence featuring its portfolio of brands, it held “Matchmaking” activities to connect brands with other brands, industry players, projects and professional networks.

 

 

The figures show that we set several new expo records over the two-day event on 11–12 August:

 

• More than 11,000 visits to the expo

• 100+ exhibitors

• A total of 35 sponsoring brands

• As many as 19 supporting organisations and institutions

 

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This year's expo theme was Reduce Our Carbon Footprint (saving energy and cutting emissions for a low-carbon future). Although the path to zero carbon will be exceptionally challenging for New Zealand's property and construction sector in the coming years, it also offers abundant opportunities. As NZCBIA chair Hu Hailong said in his gala dinner speech: “This year's theme is — saving energy and cutting emissions for a low-carbon future, which is also an experiment in, and a practical expression of, ‘following the way of nature’ and innovating while upholding fundamental principles.”

 

 

The annual gala dinner and Excellence Awards

 

The 2023 New Zealand Building Expo and Excellence Awards ceremony concluded successfully at the Cordis Hotel on the evening of 11 August. Nearly a thousand prominent New Zealand political and business figures and construction industry leaders gathered at this year's gala dinner to witness the competition for, and presentation of, the “2023 NZCBIA Excellence Award” honours.

From left: New Zealand Minister for the Environment and Transport David Parker, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, and New Zealand National Party leader Christopher Luxon

At this year's awards ceremony, leading residential and commercial construction teams received high recognition from the judging panel and the wider community for their outstanding achievements over the past year. Two special awards were also presented to Wētā Workshop and Architecture van Brandenburg teams in recognition of their outstanding achievements in architectural design.

 

LiWen Choy

Wētā Workshop Production Designer

Fred van Brandenburg & Damien van Brandenburg

NZCBIA Scholarship presentations

 

The New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association has entered its eighth year. President Frank Xu said with satisfaction that, after eight years of effort, many of the dreams held at its founding had been realised one by one:

 

Giving the Chinese community a strong voice through its own media platforms; showcasing outstanding projects and teams through awards; building bridges between Chinese construction companies, government and industry organisations through the expo's various activities; and supporting the next generation and developing industry talent through scholarships. The association's flagship event, NZIBES, embodies its purpose and mission, providing a comprehensive annual review of the achievements of New Zealand's Chinese property and construction sector.

 

The biggest highlight of this year's Excellence Awards was that applications were open to all businesses, meaning participation was no longer restricted to NZCBIA members. This made competition for several awards more intense and brought a broader, more diverse range of entries. This year's Excellence Awards can be said to have achieved their greatest industry influence and prestige to date.