No job too big or too small for Auckland team
02 August 2019
Jason Armistead counts himself pretty lucky to be able to work in some of the country’s most remote and spectacular spots.
The Johnson & Couzins installation manager crossed paths with the business over three years ago and hasn’t looked back. He now oversees the Auckland team.
“Our work is about 80% residential, although our commercial arm is getting bigger.”
He and his team are currently working on the redevelopment of Auckland’s Westfield mall, putting louvres around the food court area, as well as a multi-story car park in Silverdale.
“The commercial jobs we’ve done are actually really big projects.”
Their work is diverse – taking them from private homes with “Mum and Dad and a bbq area” to work sites with more than 1,000 people on site.
A particularly memorable job for Jason was an office job he completed in Ponsonby, where the Johnson & Couzins team installed four louvres, which had to be joined together.
“The only way we could do that was by building it on the ground, nine stories down, in an adjascent carpark.”
The system was then wynched up on a crane – a job which took their 10-person install team just five hours.
“It was a large project but was installed very quickly due to the job being so well-planned and managed. The end result is pretty impressive too!”
When it comes to residential work, the Auckland team cover much of the North Island. Sometimes installers will be required to go away on three to four day trips, to some of the remotest parts of the country.
It’s this part of the job that Jason is pretty fond of. He says the Coromandel Peninsula is a favourite spot for installations.
“You’re normally installing on seaside beaches or remote, middle of nowhere locations with million dollar views.”
Jason says the most rewarding part of the job comes at the very end.
“When you turn up on day one, some customers can’t imagine what it will look like. You see them looking confused. A lot of them will then go to work and come home to a finished product and you see the eyes widen and the smile. That’s the best bit – the happy customers at the end.”