Gray Russell
Director / Founder
I grew up in a beautiful old Mt Eden villa, it was here I watched my father convert it from three flats to one home then, later on, add a double garage. I spent the mid 90’s building forts, huts, and skate ramps from the "scraps" from Dad’s projects. Alongside my early dabble with swinging a hammer, I got into Tennis, Soccer & Water Polo often competed for Auckland, North Island, or New Zealand Titles throughout my years at school. The highlight being the national schoolboy's title in 2005 as part of the Auckland Grammar senior A water polo team. We met our top rivals Wellington Collage in the final, claiming a 3-2 victory that was oh so sweet as we had lost in the North Island champs to them. These years helped me gain the knowledge, understanding of overcoming seemingly unbeatable challenges and excelling.
After school I tried several opportunities including uni where I finishing a certificate in screen printing, I then starting another degree which I quickly learnt wasn’t the path for me. So, one day after being woken by the neighbour's builders at 7.30 am I walked next door and asked them for a job. I was fortunate enough to begin my training with Terry Mahony from Characterise Renovations, an 'old school' builder who specialised in villa renovations, who took pride in the detail and craftsmanship who showed me the work required to build to such a high standard. Together we worked on some beautiful homes all over Mt Eden, Epsom and the wider Auckland areas. It was here where I learnt many finer points of renovating, especially for villas and bungalows and the challenges they bring.
P: Gray & Bronte
After a few years with Terry, my journey took a leap over the ditch to Australia, where I found a job working for Matt. Matt with his wife (who was an architect), designed and built beautiful new homes in the heart of Brisbane city. Working alongside him I found that he had very similar values and standards as Terry in that – thinking ahead to avoid having issues down the track, the attention to detail and craftsmanship that should go into every job should again be at the top of the scale to deliver the best results.
P: Our wedding day
After a while, the itch to go snowboarding again became very apparent. So I packed up my things and headed home but this time instead of returning to Auckland, I headed south to Queenstown to where I would find my adult playground. I spent a few years working in hospitality and retail where I really found my love of helping people, as well as my love of Dj’ing (a love affair I still enjoy to this day). I eventually took up a job with a local company ‘Bayshore Builders’ which to date was some of the most intriguing and stunning work I’ve been a part of. This ranged from stunning family homes in jacks point, multi-million dollar mansions looking out to both the Remarkables and coronet peak, to the stunning and self-sustained “Aro Ha Wellness Retreat” down towards Glenorchy. It was here that my initial training felt at home when I was working on such masterpieces; fine-tuning my skills and honing my craft, while gaining more knowledge from materials and processes used for dealing with different climates and working to such high standards and finish, such as handmade exposed beam with custom bolting brackets strong enough for the high wind and snow loading zones of Queenstown.
P: Off for a surf with mates during a camping mission in Opoutere
P: Taking the original "Cool runnings" sled for a drive
P: A Couple of mates captured in front of the "PDC Sound System"
(Gray's hand-built sound system).
2014 I decided to go for a 6 month OE over in Canada to follow the snow working for a stink in construction, learning some of the different materials and techniques used to deal with their unique climate, I then returned home. It was here back in Auckland where I met my beautiful wife Bronte. It was one fateful night while wing-manning for a friend at their new tinder match’s flat warming. Jono and I must have made a reasonable impression that night, as we are now married to the same wonderful ladies from that night. Fast forward a few years, after buying and renovating our first house in Port Waikato, Bronte and I sold up and moved closer to Auckland. The timing to move into our new home in Waitakere village was incredibly lucky as it happened to be the weekend before the country moved into our first COVID lockdown.
P: Moving into our first home with our new puppy Cosmo
P: Gray hitting the xl jumps at Turoa
Now that we have settled in out west in the beautiful Waitakere township, we have found the local western wineries to be a hit. After being so isolated in Port Waikato it’s been nice we can get out and catch up with our friends and family easier. We Still enjoy hitting the slopes, beaches and vineyards on the weekends to keep life fun and entertaining but during the weeks we are focused on providing high-quality building services, bringing your dreams to reality
P: Soaking up the sun at a friends wedding