JOHN SILVESTER, PRINCIPAL

John commenced work in 1975 with the Ministry of Works and Development in Wellington. He spent time in several different offices: bridging, civil design, structural design and residency, giving him a broad base of experience. In 1981 he spent six months working for a large mining company in the north west of Australia.

On his return to New Zealand he shifted to Palmerston North where he commenced work in the private sector. In 1984 he joined Ormond Stock Associates, which was then a small civil and structural consulting practice. He became a shareholder and Director in 1994.

In the early nineties the company became heavily involved with work in the meat and dairy industries, both in New Zealand and abroad. John took a lead role in these projects and in many instances was involved from conception through to completion. Projects include major milk drying and processing buildings for Fonterra Co-operative Group; slaughter and meat processing facilities for Progressive Meats, Alliance Group and CMP Rangitikei Ltd.

John’s strength is his ability to conceive and plan a project from a blank sheet of paper and then manage it through the design, documentation and construction phases. He has a practical approach with a focus on providing the client with the most cost effective solution in a timeframe to meet the project requirements.

In 2004, he and Peter Clark formed Silvester Clark Ltd. The company has continued to grow and is a nationally recognised structural engineering consultancy.

PETER CLARK, PRINCIPAL

Peter is one of the founding Principals of Silvester Clark having been a director of the preceding company Ormond Stock Associates since April 1995.

Peter has 35 years of experience in the consulting engineering industry and has been involved in the design and project management of many large industrial and commercial projects.

In 1975 Peter rejoined Rankine & Hill having previously worked as a draughtsman before his university studies. Peter worked for some years in Wellington before becoming a Director of Rankine & Hill and moving to Palmerston North to manage the local office. This role involved overseeing a multi disciplinary office involving many a variety of institutional, commercial and industrial projects. 

In 1991 Peter set up in business on his own and was responsible for the design of several large warehouse projects and the design and project management of two secure Defence Department communication centres. In 1995 Peter merged his business with Ormond Stock Associates. Since that time the Palmerston North office has specialised in industrial work with a particular emphasis on the food processing industry. Peter has been responsible for the design of several large dairy and meat processing projects along with associated warehousing.

Peter is the Principal in charge of the structural design aspects in the Palmerston North Office of Silvester Clark. The company has grown significantly over the past three years since its formation and Peter plays an important role in the development and planning of the future direction of the company.

SCOTT MILLER, PRINCIPAL

BE (Civil), MIPENZ, CPEng, MIStructE, CPEng (UK), Int PE

Scott joined Silvester Clark in 2003 and took over as Wellington Manager in 2004.
In 2006 Scott became a Principal of the firm.

As well as having more than 16 years in the industry, Scott brings to the firm an innovative approach following 6 years working overseas on high profile projects using different building systems and methods.

Scott spent two years in Sydney, Australia during the build up to the Olympic Games in 2000. His role involved design with different building materials such as brick, post tensioned suspended slabs and glass reinforced plaster walls. He gained further experience designing several high rise, industrial, pool and residential projects from inception to completion.

Scott moved to the UK in 1999 and began working with structural engineering specialists Price & Myers in London. Scott forged relationships for the firm with large publicly listed companies and consequently worked on a number of high profile projects. These included the £17M, 333 Oxford Street development and the scheme design for several buildings that formed the £180M Riverside Quarter development in Wandsworth.

Scott specialises in multistorey building design and has been the principal in charge of several significant buildings in New Zealand including the Watermark Development, Trinity Apartments, the Ohakea Airbase helicopter hangars, Patent 326 Apartments, strengthening of NZ Fire Service stations, Countdown Newtown, Il Casino Apartments, the Porsche & Audi Showrooms and the Waterfront Apartments in Napier.

Scott relates well to clients and their needs but also believes that you must get on with all team members to have a successful project. He likes to exceed client expectations and prides himself on meeting deadlines and providing the most economical solution for each project.

Scott currently sits on the Executive Councils of the SCNZ (Steel Construction New Zealand), and Earthquake and Natural Hazards New Zealand. He is a trained Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Engineer, and was involved in the Christchurch earthquake deployments and was the engineering team leader in the USAR assistance in Japan following the devastating earthquake and tsunami. He has recently worked with the United Nations on behalf of NZAid, advising the local government in Padang, Indonesia following the large earthquake there in September 2009.

KEVIN SPRING, PRINCIPAL

Kevin joined Silvester Clark in 1999 starting the Wellington Office and developing it into a viable stand alone entity. With Scott now responsible for the Wellington office, his role is principally in concept design and the review of designs leaving the office.

Kevin brings to the firm a wealth of experience with over 50 years in structural engineering design and the management of consulting engineering practices. In his career he has been involved in the design of some significant high rise and industrial projects in New Zealand, Australia and in the United Kingdom.

Kevin has lead the design or managed project teams on such notable projects as the Esanda building, Martin Place Sydney, The Law Courts Building Sydney, The Bank of New South Wales Building Lambton Quay Wellington, the head office for the National Bank in Wellington the new 30 storey building for the Bank of New Zealand Wellington, the twin Tower National Bank Centre Auckland, Mobil on The Park Wellington, New Zealand Steel Sponge Iron Plant Auckland, the New Zealand Aluminium Smelter Upgrade Project Potline 3C Building, and the Mega Centre Porirua.

Kevin worked for Rankine & Hill and their predecessor firms for over 25 years, starting in Sydney as a senior design engineer. Kevin was made Manager of a major international consultancies' Wellington office in late 1991 and held this position until late 1996, when he stepped down to become a consultant to the same firm.

Since joining Silvester Clark, Kevin has lead the design and management of the following projects; the New Countdown Centre Upper Hutt, Aitken Street Apartments, Vivian Street Apartments, Spicers Paper Store Petone, Latitude 41 Apartments Nelson and the Cambridge Hotel strengthening.

Kevin has been involved with the development of seismic design procedures in New Zealand, chairing the NZSEE committee for the seismic design of structural steel. With a strong reputation in seismic design Kevin was engaged to consult and report on the earthquake damage in Newcastle Australia and was a member of the New Zealand team that attended Northridge in Los Angeles immediately after the earthquake there. Kevin continues to be an active member of the Hera Executive.

With a young dynamic group making up Silvester Clark in Wellington, Kevin provides that necessary experience to ensure a successful engineering consultancy.