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If you’ve ever browsed the All Blacks shop or the duty-free store before your international flight out of Auckland or Christchurch airports, or if your child attends a school in the Auckland area, you will have almost certainly set foot in an area built, refurbished, or fitted out by Accent Construction. As construction main contractors, the Accent Construction team are experts in construction project delivery, bringing together specialists in all the different trades to manage the successful delivery of a project. They also do design and build projects, where they work directly with the client to both produce the design and project manage through to delivery.
“We’ve been working at Auckland Airport, helping continuously redevelop the airport terminals and some of those surrounding areas, for over 10 years now,” says Director and General Manager Mark Scown. “We work with government agencies with construction programmes, large corporates with property or construction development needs, we’re doing a project now with Kainga Ora, and we do a lot of work with the Ministry of Education. We’ve probably refurbished or built a building in almost every school in Auckland over the past 30 years.”
Accent Construction’s varied portfolio is a testament to the business’s wide-ranging expertise, their dedication to excellence, and their commitment to putting together the best team for each and every job. When Mark’s father, Maurice Scown, founded Accent Construction 40 years ago, he did so on a principle that remains the backbone of the business today: putting people first.
“As a family-owned business, our core value is around being connected, and that really plays out in the fact that we truly care about people,” says Mark. “We care about the actual person, and we really try to look after them. When it comes to our team, we’re passionate about their development and wellbeing — we know that people who are happy and healthy outside of work will also feel the same while they’re at work.”
With the support of his wife, Trudy, Maurice started the business in 1985 by taking what he knew — quantity surveying — and launching Accent Construction as a specialist in interior commercial fitouts. (In essence, an “interior fitout” means taking the bare shell of a commercial space and adding floors, ceilings, walls, office spaces, open spaces, toilets, air conditioning, design features, and more.) Over time, the business evolved into construction, honing their project delivery skills and broadening their trusted client base.
“In amongst the team we have specialists and generalists,” explains Mark. “We have those who are really technical in complicated construction or large-scale construction, and some who have much more design and detail focus, whilst we push the whole team to provide process, planning, and communication excellence.”
One recent example of Accent Construction’s work is the Kia showroom in Newmarket. (If you pass by there regularly via the motorway, you might have noticed a plastic-wrapped building with Accent Construction branding.) The Accent Construction team wrapped the building to protect it while they removed and refurbished the façade, and then stripped out, renovated, and refurbished the interior.
“The key for us,” Mark says, “as a people company and as a relationship company, is we really thrive with clients who aren’t just looking for a one-time solution; rather, they have repeat project needs and see the value of letting us in to deliver as one and work truly side by side for the long-term.”
The evolution of Accent Construction is what makes Mark most proud to work there. To build on their journey of change and to reflect what they currently offer, the business recently rebranded. The process was another family affair, with Mark’s wife Nicole (who has a background in marketing) creating the design brief.
“We’ve always had a specific and special culture here, valuing people, togetherness, being connected, and looking out for each other,” explains Mark. “Because we care about the people and process so much, we also deliver a great end product, but without having developed the brand consciously, it was hard to articulate that. The development process was clarifying and articulating who we are and what makes us special, as well as being clear on what our purpose is.”
It is Accent Construction’s people-centred culture, Mark says, as well as their longevity, that keeps clients coming back.
“We’ve been around for a long time, and we put people at the heart of what we do. We’re very big on developing not just capable people, but great people. We have a good team and we constantly strive to improve and develop, and we thrive on togetherness. We’re highly collaborative — that’s a very cliché word in construction — but the feedback we get from our clients is that we do things a little bit differently. We’re very much about coming to the table and truly working together with clients, working with each other and for each other, for a successful project and a successful outcome.”
“Of course, as a business, if we can make some money along the way and even have a little fun while doing it,” he adds, “that’s what motivates us.”
Roundabout Magazine
This article was published in Roundabout Magazine Issue 214 (December / January 2025).