Lawrie Forbes
Beginnings
Lawrie Forbes started Zeal Steel in 1995 in response to what he saw as a need within the local market for quality fabrications involving a high-skill factor. Originally, they focused on fabrications that other companies had struggled to produce to the tolerances set by Transrail for their products. Zeal Steel met this with early success. Then an approach into the blossoming open tenders’ market that in the mid-1990s was growing into using architectural metalwork in an expanding manner and winning the respect of owners, building contractors, project managers, engineers and architects. This led to an almost 30-year artistic growth for Lawrie collaborating with clients, artists and artisans to advance projects cultivating skills and strengths to produce some truly outstanding work.
Heritage Interest
In the autumn of 2008 early one evening Lawrie found himself called into action to cut down and help make safe the remnants of Dunedin Railway Station's historic pedestrian footbridge after it was hit by a train with an astray container.
Lawrie worked with a team into the night to clear the destroyed bridge from the tracks. Lawrie took care to cut the bridge into sections close to the original assembly corrections so that anything that might be salvaged could be reused. Zeal Steel then successfully reinstated the bridge, reinstating the original structure using modern and historical techniques.
TodayToday at 60 years of age Lawrie is still physically fit and youthful. He enjoys working with a small team producing what he describes as the best results of his career because of finally reaching the true art of collaborating with those artisan tradespeople who now support and supply Zeal Steel.