Artist impression of the Brooklyn Tower when it is completed. Photo / brooklyntower.com
Artist impression of the Brooklyn Tower when it is completed. Photo / brooklyntower.com
They say if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.
Carpet and rug maker Bremworth, which has its largest factory in Napier, has won the contract to fit out the tallest skyscraper in Brooklyn, New York, with its woollen carpet.
The under-construction Brooklyn Tower is the tallest skyscraper in the borough of Brooklyn at 93 storeys and 327m tall - the same height as Auckland's Sky Tower.
Bremworth's US distributor won the tender to supply 3000sqm of wool carpet which will be used in the corridor areas of the residential floors.
An advocate for the New Zealand wool industry says contracts like this one signal a resurgence in demand for New Zealand wool overseas, and could see the price of strong wool increase for local farmers.
Last year, Bremworth took a bold step by ceasing to make synthetic carpet (the most common carpet found across the world) and instead focus on woollen-only products sourced from New Zealand.
Somewhat surprisingly, demand has soared ever since, with the company recently telling Hawke's Bay Today its carpet was "going out of the door" as fast as they could make it.
"The landmark Brooklyn Tower will have 550 residential apartments with multi-million-dollar entry points and will stand over 100 metres taller than the next tallest building in this borough of New York," Bremworth CEO Greg Smith said.
Inside the Bremworth wool factory at Awatoto in Napier. Pictured are staff Niyah Garisau, Emma Karaitiana and Glen Simpson. Photo / Warren Buckland
"The selection of our wool carpet for this project is a testament to the quality of both New Zealand wool as well as Bremworth's manufacturing capability.
"The use of Bremworth products in high-profile installations such as the Brooklyn Tower and Cartier stores [in the US] provide us with a unique marketing opportunity to grow our presence and exports."
Bremworth's Napier facility processes thousands of tonnes of wool annually, turning it into yarn, and it will process the wool to be used for the project before it eventually goes to Auckland where it is turned into carpet.
The huge order will be sent to the US later this year.
Like many industries hit by staff shortages, Bremworth has been trying to find more staff in recent months to keep up with demand and to ramp up its production.
Campaign for Wool NZ chairman Tom O'Sullivan said the price of wool had been declining for a long time and was at a near-record low.
He said projects like the Bremworth contract were good news for farmers.
"The more we see companies like Bremworth picking up more contracts and the more demand we get, then clearly that will in time lift the price of wool.
"Farmers, hopefully sooner rather than later, will get back to where they are at least making money from wool again," he said.
"But my message to New Zealand farmers is this is a really great signal that maybe we have hit the bottom [of strong wool prices] and we are starting to see a real resurgence in New Zealand-strong wool."
He claimed currently it was costing some farmers more money to get their sheep shorn than what they were getting for their wool.
The contract for Brooklyn Tower is the biggest for Bremworth since its wool carpet was used for the refurbishment of dozens of US retail outlets owned by Cartier, the luxury French jewellery maker.
