A regular feature that offers a snapshot of the working lives of Uptown’s colourful characters. This issue we meet Pete Byrne, 39, an Irishman from County Mayo. He came to Aotearoa New Zealand because all his mates were going to Australia and he doesn’t like to conform
to the norm. Pete settled in Mt Eden with his young family, close to his job as superintendent at City Rail Link Mt Eden.

My alarm goes off...

At 4.30am, but I normally snooze it for 10 minutes. When I get up, I try to be as quiet as possible around the house so as to not wake my sons, so they in turn don’t wake my wife. Some mornings I train at Boxing Central on Boston Road before work. There’s a group of four of us who train there together and not only does it keep me fit, it lowers my stress levels. I love it there, you can forget about work, but still be close to the site in case I need to dash over at short notice. Other mornings I get to work at 5am and get some office work done before the madness starts.

My work day begins...

With coffee coffee coffee. I then spend the morning between 7-9am walking around the site, making sure everything is gelling as it should.

Before the crew start work each morning we run a pre-start meeting to plan out what’s going to get done that day. Part of pre-start is a fitness warm-up that involves everyone. It’s a great way to start the working day and it really boosts moral with the team.

My current job...

As superintendent, my job is to coordinate the workforce with the engineer’s programme. I have to understand how to build the job as well as ensuring the team work productively and to schedule. Part of my job is to understand the engineer’s constraints and help transition what they have on their plan to the finished product through managing the workforce. We want to build the station in the safest way possible. It’s my role to have a good understanding of the required skills of my team and the engineering methodology.

A typical day...

It’s organised chaos here most of the time, but there is the odd day where everything clicks into place with the help of my team. It’s very high energy in our office, we’re like a gang of young fellas most of the time, having a laugh.

My big break...

It all started when I closed down my roofing company. As much as I thought it was going to be a failure, it transitioned me into a different role where I could use my carpentry skills and that led me to companies that build big things. When I quit roofing, I moved to Ireland for 15 weeks and I quickly realised that I wanted to come back to New Zealand. When I did, my brother’s friend gave me a foreman role at Downer building Britomart Station. After that, I moved to a supervisor role at Fletcher Construction working on Commercial Bay. Once I was done with that, I came to CRL as a superintendent for the redeveloped Mt Eden Station.

I’m proud of...

I’m proud of a couple of things, but notably:

• The H&M retail store and tower I built at Commercial Bay.
• My family.
• My Irish roots and my love for hard work.

My most memorable moment...

Well I have to say my wedding (otherwise she’d kill me) and the birth of my two sons.

Outside of work...

I keep fit going to Box Fit classes at Boxing Central. I’m part of a social soccer team that a crew of us at work formed and I also love Friday pints at my local, the Horse & Trap.

My worst work habit is...

Probably doing too much at once. Sometimes I procrastinate and that’s my downfall; I find that when I get stuck in and get it done from the get-go, it’s the best me. Also, not always trusting my gut feeling.

My Plan B...

To be a farmer. I would love to retire on a farm.

I chose Uptown because...

Because the CRL is the most exciting project in New Zealand. I also enjoy the coffee shops around here – my go-tos are twenty three and Fount. It’s a great central location and Uptown is a beautiful area. It’s the first place I moved when I came to Auckland and I forgot how fabulous the area was until I came back.

I fall asleep...

After work I pick up the boys from school and daycare (my youngest goes to Bear Park just around the corner from the site). I spend some time with my family, have a cup of tea, and I like to try to read before bed (but often I end up playing on my phone).