{"id":552505,"date":"2026-07-31T05:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T05:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/552505\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T05:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T05:51:09","slug":"prime-minister-christopher-luxon-opens-new-rotorua-red-stag-manufacturing-facility-on-the-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/552505\/","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Christopher Luxon opens new Rotorua Red Stag manufacturing facility – On The Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The boxes were the first examples of Red Stag<\/a>\u2019s new volumetric modular \u2013 or VoMo \u2013 manufacturing system, officially commemorated with a ribbon-cutting by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the mill.<\/p>\n

The production line is the first in the Southern Hemisphere to use cross-laminated timber (CLT) to manufacture complete room-sized building modules in a factory before taking them to construction sites.<\/p>\n

Verry said the system was based on technology used in Austria and Germany.<\/p>\n

The project was a collaboration between Red Stag, German architecture firm NKBAK and Austrian construction company Kaufmann Bausysteme, with support from the Ministry for Primary Industries\u2019 Primary Sector Growth Fund.<\/p>\n

Verry said the approach could help developers significantly reduce construction time as work on building foundations and modules can happen simultaneously rather than consecutively. <\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, this takes one-third to one-half out of the overall construction programme.\u201d <\/p>\n

The facility was expected to service multiple projects, including classrooms, apartments, townhouses, cabins, hotels, student accommodation, offices and retirement care facilities.<\/p>\n

Red Stag had secured projects requiring 150 modules over the next two years. The production line would eventually produce up to 800 modules a year.<\/p>\n

Verry said using CLT, instead of imported steel and cement, could deliver environmental and economic benefits while supporting New Zealand businesses, jobs, rural communities and iwi-owned forests.<\/p>\n

He said it would give Red Stag and other New Zealand processors a \u201cbetter cost base to be able to compete in export markets\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something we want politicians and bureaucrats to realise and adopt strategic procurement policy around.\u201d <\/p>\n

At the mill, Luxon said he was \u201cinterested in\u201d VoMo\u2019s potential to keep more construction spending in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to send money offshore to bring in overseas steel and cement into New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said New Zealand had spent decades treating timber as a commodity instead of adding value through innovation, and technologies such as VoMo offered a chance to change that.<\/p>\n

\"PrimePrime Minister Christopher Luxon opens Red Stag\u2019s new volumetric modular (VoMo) manufacturing system. From left are: Rotorua MP Todd McClay, Luxon and Marty Verry, chief executive of the Red Stag group.
\nPhoto \/ Rodney Thurlow<\/p>\n

With a significant pipeline of schools, hospitals and military facilities to build, Luxon said engineered timber could play a much bigger role.<\/p>\n

He said from his ninth-floor Beehive office in Wellington, he could see a six-storey building under construction using Red Stag\u2019s product.<\/p>\n

He described it as exciting, inspiring and a \u201cfantastic example of what we can do going forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see a building like this, and you go, \u2018Why can\u2019t we do more of this?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forest Owners Association chief executive Elizabeth Heeg said domestic processing would take some \u201cvolatility out of the supply chain\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt means we have a more secure environment for the building \u2026 we\u2019re not having to import as many materials,\u201d Heeg said.<\/p>\n

Mark Ross, Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association of New Zealand (WPMA) chief executive, described the innovation as \u201cstabilising\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ross said it was \u201cgreat to hear\u201d Luxon acknowledge the need to \u201cuse more wood\u201d in Government construction. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to keep importing steel and concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Todd McClay attended the opening as Rotorua\u2019s MP and Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, and Trade and Investment. <\/p>\n

\" These wooden boxes were the first examples of Red Stag\u2019s new volumetric modular (VoMo) manufacturing system. <\/p>\n

McClay said backing the project was \u201can easy decision\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is taking the trees that we grow well and providing a choice, providing an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

McClay said not exporting trees as logs would \u201cadd about seven times the value to those trees for New Zealand, the local economy\u201d. <\/p>\n

McClay thanked Verry for his contribution to the local and national economy, and for providing about 500 locals with \u201cjob security\u201d by continuing to invest and innovate.<\/p>\n

The sector was advocating for three policy changes: <\/p>\n

Requiring a wood design option to be considered for Government projects.Recognising carbon stored in harvested wood products within the Emissions Trading Scheme.Introducing embodied carbon reporting for larger buildings.<\/p>\n

Annabel Reid<\/a> is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke\u2019s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boxes were the first examples of Red Stag\u2019s new volumetric modular \u2013 or VoMo \u2013 manufacturing system,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,16426,11163,16427,1428,6722,117,111,139,69,90,2680,415,15406,1327,228164,223,810],"class_list":["post-552505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-christopher","tag-facility","tag-luxon","tag-manufacturing","tag-minister","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-opens","tag-prime","tag-red","tag-rotorua","tag-stag","tag-the","tag-up"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}