Pre-fabricated Homes provide skills for Aurukun

Media Release – Gateway Constructions

Title: Pre-fabricated Homes provide skills for Aurukun

From its factory in Portsmith, an award winning Cairns building company is not only addressing the immediate housing shortage within Aboriginal communities on Cape York but is training community members in the skills needed to build and maintain their own homes.
Gateway Constructions is owned and operated in Cairns by Jim and Penny Margach. In 2008 the company received the HIA Australian Greensmart award Resource Efficiency and also the Australian Project Home of the year for its Takeaway series designed and developed with internationally renowned Architect Gabriel Poole.

Following consultation with government agencies, Cape York Indigenous groups and Aurukun residents, 12 houses based on this environmentally friendly and sustainable construction design will be home to Aurukun community workers in time for this year’s wet season.

“Building in remote regions anywhere in the world - let alone the tropics - presents its problems not only in relation to on-site materials and labour costs but ongoing sustainability and maintenance,” Mr Margach said.
“With the Takeaway system we are able to completely pre-build the home in our factory in Cairns, right down to the plumbing, wiring, and internal and external finishes, and then transport it to the community by truck or barge. On average it takes 12 weeks from when the client places their order to when the building is ready to occupy.
As part of the project, the company is providing training for indigenous staff from Aurukun and other communities in both their factory and their office .
“ We are able to pass on real skills to our trainees and give them an appreciation of the time and money that goes into housing- and we are also providing more employment inside the communities with our current trainees returning to Aurukun to work on site on the installation of the buildings” Mr Margach said.
The first of the twelve houses will leave Cairns by road for Aurukun on 5 October 2009

Note:
*Homes in the Takeaway series are made from sustainable, eco-friendly products and are typically made from plantation timber, allowing for natural ventilation or 'breathable walls', cutting down on the need for air-conditioning.
*The houses have galvanised steel posts and 19mm timber walls making them secure and cyclone proof while resource-saving fittings are utilised wherever possible, including Smartflush toilet suites, which can save the average home up to 35,000 liters of water per year.

Read more at www.gatewayhomes.com.au

Contact Mike Sweeney on 40353330 for further information.