Boekeman Machinery's Dowerin Case IH dealership showroom wins building award

Designed and built by Multicon Commercial Constructions, Northam, initially from a drawing provided by Boekeman staff of what they wanted, the double-storey steel-clad building in Cottrell Street, recently won the Best Office Building Under $1,500,000 award in the Mid West category of the annual Statewide building excellence awards.

"This project commenced in 2019 and involved the task of managing a relocation of personnel, a demolition, an extension and a new office build," the award citation stated.

"The new Boekeman showroom, offices and workshop in Dowerin is described as the flagship office and the most advanced building in the town of around 500 people," it stated.

Boekeman Machinery dealer principal Stuart Boekeman said judges from the Master Builders Association (MBA) came and inspected the building before it was awarded.

"The MBA judges drove to Dowerin to thoroughly inspect our new building and were extremely impressed with the quality of the build," Mr Boekeman said.

"Our staff certainly do appreciate the new premises and its facilities and our business is growing."

Boekeman Machinery Dowerin branch manager Peter Crippen said using a local builder had been an important consideration.

"We sketched up a rough hand drawn of what we wanted and they (Multicon) were able to interpret that and give us what we wanted," Mr Crippen said.

"We made a lot of small changes as we went along and they were able to incorporate them too."

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Mr Crippen said the most important aspect for Boekemans was having the old offices demolished and the new complex completed as quickly as possible, particularly once COVID hit after the work had started.

"Because we were going to lose all of our (street) frontage (during the build), getting back in, in as short a time frame as possible, was very important to us," he said.

"When COVID came along (Multicon) really did lift it up a level and pushed hard to ensure our timelines were accommodated.

"Communication was easy, we were able to talk to the architects and the builders to keep things moving.

"Any little problems were fixed there and then, on the spot."

Mr Crippen said a specific requirement from the design of the new offices was providing somewhere to conduct training or hold a conference.

"There's nowhere in our community where we could do that," he said.

"We now have a fantastic dealership that is future proofed for 50 years."

Andrew Sharpe from Multicon and its residential building partner Stallion Homes, said the award was "absolutely" reward for effort.

"It was a difficult build in the sense that we had to try and work around their (Boekeman Machinery) existing operations," Mr Sharpe said.

"We had the steel delivered towards the end of 2019 but it was their busy time so we had to sort of quarantine the workshop and get on with the rest of it.

"It had to be a really quick build and we got it finished by mid 2020."

Stallion Homes won the Mid West regional award for best contract home $750,000-$1 million category for a house in Dalwallinu.