Who got that job?

Were you one of the 46 people who applied for this job and wondered who got it? By KAREN GOA

Project manager, TelstraClear Pacific events centre, Manukau.

The opportunity "to work on a major project for the community" prompted Tim Purdon, 35, to throw his hardhat into the ring for the job of managing the $44 million events centre project, being built for the charitable non-profit organisation, Counties Manukau Pacific Trust.

Purdon is impressed by "the breadth of the project and the professionalism of all the people involved" and the partnership-style relationship between the Trust, its sponsors, and all other groups involved.

Purdon's project management career spans both Northern and Southern Hemispheres over more than a decade.

An Aucklander, Purdon studied civil engineering at the University of Auckland then headed overseas for his OE, working for the British Airports Authority on the massive Heathrow Terminal Five project and transport network.

In France he spent three years as project manager and cost controller for hotel and retail development company Davis Langdon, and did similar work for LandPlan on his return to New Zealand in 1999.

Purdon oversees day-to-day construction of the events centre complex, assisting engineers with the critical task of building a major structure and parking area on the mammoth alleuvial plain that is the building site.

He also has a hand in helping the Trust's CEO Richard Jeffrey with more creative components - like installing the 30m, 30-tonne totem that Hamilton-based Maori carvers are gifting to the centre. Located next to Great South Road and due for completion in April 2005, the centre features a "roof like an upside down waka", a sports arena and performing arts theatre seating 3500, and non-traditional design elements like a "very social" concourse accessible from multiple entry points around the complex.

Says Purdon: "What's so wonderful is the diverse range of cultures involved - that side of it is really rewarding."