Project Overview

Location: 87 Brookvale Road, Havelock North

Architectural Designer: Blueprint Studio

Concrete Supplier: Bridgeman Concrete

Concrete Placing: JMC Concrete Placing

Pumping & Spraying: Bird Concrete Pumping & Spraying

Formwork System: QuickSet

Set on the rolling soils of Havelock North, this 175 m² new home was built using the QPOD Continuous System, often chosen for its clean pour, sustainable materials, reduced need for concrete, steel and it’s super-quick install process. This foundation was designed to perform.

Site Challenges

Variable ground conditions

Havelock North’s Brookvale soils are a mix of silty alluvial layers with variable compaction. Achieving the design bearing capacity required additional ground prep — controlled compaction and moisture conditioning to reach the 200 kPa minimum before formwork setup.

Tight residential access

The site sits within a built-up residential street, meaning access for Bridgeman’s concrete trucks and Bird’s pump setup required careful sequencing to keep things tidy and efficient. Waipukurau Construction coordinated pour timing around narrow site access and limited staging space.

Implementation

Subgrade Preparation: Compacted granular base layer (hardfill + AP40/65) founded on stable Havelock North alluvial soils.

QPOD Continuous System: Open-sided pods linked to form a fully connected raft with continuous ribs, reducing concrete volume while improving rigidity.

Reinforcement: SE62 mesh with H12 bars through ribs and perimeter beams, designed to NZS 3101 standards for slab-on-grade performance.

Concrete Placement: 20 MPa mix supplied by Bridgeman Concrete, placed and finished by JMC Concrete Placing with Bird Concrete Pumping & Spraying.

Formwork & Edge: QuickSet’s QuickEdge system was used for a quick easy install — supporting the build’s efficiency.

tight schedule.

The team from RFL making light work of installing the QPOD plastic void formers

Environmental Impact

Every QPOD component used here was locally produced in Napier from recycled plastic and turns plastic which could otherwise be destined to landfill into building foundations.

Total: 40,377 bottle equivalents diverted from landfill

That’s the equivalent of 9 kilometres of bottles laid end-to-end. Each square metre of this foundation locks in about 230 bottles of recycled plastic.

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All pods are made right here onsite in Hawke’s Bay from 100% recycled materials.

Results & Conclusion

The Brookvale project showcases how a Continuous QPOD foundation can deliver both technical efficiency and sustainability all in one easy to install foundation.

A big thanks to Reliable Foundations, Waipukurau Construction, and the entire team — Bridgeman Concrete, QuickSet, JMC Concrete Placing, Blueprint Studio, and Bird Concrete Pumping & Spraying — for bringing another earth-friendly foundation to life right here in Hawke’s Bay.