RSE facility for Craggy Range in Te Muna, Martinborough. Photo credit Richard Brimer. Hawke’s Bay Homes, a local offsite prefabrication specialist, is expanding its offering to meet the growing demand for affordable classrooms and Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) accommodation.
Managing Director Mark Roil says the firm has the capacity to deliver large-scale RSE housing and education builds from its Hastings-based manufacturing facility. The company has already completed significant RSE projects for Craggy Range, Taylor Corporation, and Turners & Growers.
Changes to government policy have further driven demand. A 2020 Hastings District Council variation made it easier for employers to provide RSE housing, allowing larger accommodation in plains production and light industrial zones, including Omahu and Irongate. Meanwhile, an additional 1250 RSE workers have been approved for the 2024/25 season, bringing the total to 20,750. The government has also permitted an increase in accommodation costs charged to workers.
“We have excellent designs for RSE accommodation that ensure the highest living standards,” Mark says.
Hawke’s Bay Homes is also addressing urgent education needs, delivering a new classroom and administration block to Kotemāori School after Cyclone Gabrielle. Offsite construction offers faster, more affordable solutions—critical at a time when the Ministry of Education faces a $6.5 billion budget shortfall and a backlog of 488 projects. A 2024 ministerial inquiry recommended an urgent shift to more factory-built classrooms, with Education Minister Erica Stanford supporting the move.
Mark says their classroom models cost less than half the average onsite build price of $1.2 million. Mark Roil, managing director of HB Homes along with internal showcase of a modern classroom. Offsite construction offers faster, more affordable solutions—critical at a time when the Ministry of Education faces a $6.5 billion budget shortfall and a backlog of 488 projects. A 2024 ministerial inquiry recommended an urgent shift to more factory-built classrooms, with Education Minister Erica Stanford supporting the move.
Mark says their classroom models cost less than half the average onsite build price of $1.2 million. Mark Roil, managing director of HB Homes along with internal showcase of a modern classroom “Our process is efficient, cost-effective, and significantly reduces onsite disruption. Once delivered, classrooms can be quickly connected to water and power, with shorter construction timeframes and fewer contract variations.”
Hawke’s Bay Homes has delivered classrooms for Patoka School, St John’s College, Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, Paikea Kindergarten in Gisborne, and Te Horo School in Kapiti.
Mark welcomes the Ministry’s renewed focus on offsite solutions. “We’re excited to be part of a localised response, with the ability to transport builds across the central North Island and East Coast,” Mark says.
Hawke’s Bay Homes has been pioneering modular classrooms since 2011 when then-Prime Minister John Key commissioned its first series. Fourteen years later, the company’s latest models are more than 60% cheaper than the current average classroom cost.
At Kotemāori School, students had direct input in the design, even choosing the lime-green interior walls to match their school colours. “We’ve refined our designs to ensure best practice, while still allowing schools to personalise colour schemes and fit-outs,” Mark says.
