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Secure Buildings

Trusted delivery in controlled and secure environments

Built for security and resilience

Secure facilities operate under strict requirements for access, safety, and continuity. Projects are often delivered within live environments where people, systems, and sensitive operations must remain protected at all times.

Leighs has experience across New Zealand with prisons, NZDF environments, airports and customs facilities, and overseas embassy work. We understand how to operate within layered security frameworks while maintaining clear communication, disciplined planning, and dependable delivery.

A trusted delivery partner

  • Proven discretion
    We understand the importance of confidentiality and controlled information in secure environments.

  • Operational awareness
    Our teams plan work around live operations, ensuring continuity and minimising disruption.

  • Disciplined delivery
    Clear processes, experienced leadership, and consistent site standards underpin every project.

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Shared Foundations

Building places that last also means contributing to the communities around them. This sits at the heart of our Shared Foundations approach.

Amotai

Amotai

Inclusive supply chains create stronger industries. Amotai connects Māori and Pasifika businesses with opportunity, supporting diversity, capability, and long-term community impact.

Summer Intern Programme

Summer Intern Programme

Leighs supports future construction leaders through hands-on learning, mentorship, and real-world project experience, helping students turn study into career-ready skills.

The Keystone Trust

The Keystone Trust

A strong future for construction depends on access and opportunity. Keystone Trust supports young people into property and construction careers through scholarships and mentoring.

NZ SAS Trust

NZ SAS Trust

Our support for the Papakura Military Camp childcare centre helped deliver a safe, high-quality early learning space for service personnel and their whānau.

Māia Health Foundation

Māia Health Foundation

Healing is about more than buildings. Maia brings creativity and calm into healthcare spaces, aligning with our belief that wellbeing and patient experience matter just as much as clinical care.

Working within controlled environments

Secure sites demand careful preparation, discretion, and consistency on site. Our teams are experienced in managing approvals, inductions, and access protocols, and in coordinating work around active operations.

We bring experience in:

  • High-security and restricted-access sites

  • Staged delivery within live operational environments

  • Aviation and border control interfaces

  • Defence and diplomatic facilities

 

Our approach prioritises safety, predictability, and respect for the operating environment.

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The Forge – Te Toki

A modern, flexible industrial facility purpose-built to support advanced defence manufacturing, secure operations, and future growth, delivered with a focus on resilience, efficiency, and high-performing infrastructure.

Defence

Mt Eden Corrections Facility - Building C

The corrections environment demanded attention to detail and a considered selection of materials that would be guaranteed to withstand the tough and prolonged expected mistreatment. Bespoke solutions were required to meet security requirements.

Secure

Interim Post-Entry Quarantine Facility

Though the buildings appear deceptively simple, “just” twelve 30m² glasshouses and a 110m² headhouse built on a standard slab with a seismic join between the two buildings, it was the first of its kind in New Zealand.

Specialist

New Zealand Embassy, Dili

The design and construction of the New Zealand Embassy in Timor-Leste’s (East Timor) capital Dili, was a prestigious project awarded to Leighs Construction by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2008.

Civic

Airways Air Traffic Control Facility

Leighs delivered a fully base-isolated IL4 compound for Airways NZ, housing staff and equipment. Designed to the new US post-event resilience standard, it’s NZ’s most seismically resilient building, ensuring operational continuity.

Aviation

CIAL Gate 15

Working in an operational airport environment, including ‘airside’, required strict adherence to security (including scheduling works to ensure staff have clearance prior to entering restricted zones) and careful management of site activities.

Aviation

Featured Secure Facility Builds
Related Expertise

Healthcare Sector

Leighs delivers complex healthcare projects, from new clinical spaces to major redevelopments, with a focus on safety, reliable services, and keeping hospitals running.

Commercial Buildings

Commercial spaces need to function well and last long-term. We create practical, durable buildings that support business and community needs.

Aviation Infrastructure

Airports rely on safe, uninterrupted operations. Our aviation work supports terminals, airside facilities, and critical airport infrastructure.

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