Owner and chief executive of steel company Structural Challenge, Maria Mavrikos has a lot to be proud of.
When I finished my degree and I was still working at the steel fabricator, my dad said to me, ‘OK, now go get a real job. You didn’t go and study at university to work in an ergostasio (factory)’. – Maria Mavrikos
Most recently, her company was awarded with the Large Building Project Award in the 2014 Steel Excellence Awards (VIC/TAS).
The $7 million award winning project constructing Monash University’s Green Chemical Futures building was in fact destined to be a completely different building altogether, until Maria’s team took a look at the plans.
Structural Challenge was able to convince Monash University to go back to the drawing board. The company was booked to work on the steel roof and façade, but one look at the engineer’s plans, and Maria was finding ways to fit more steel into the structure.
“It was designed from the engineer’s concrete structure, and we worked with the client too and gave them ideas and design change options into a steel structure option,” she tells Neos Kosmos.
“It enabled the job to get done faster and more cost effectively.”
It was so cost effective, in fact, that Monash felt it worth their while to completely redesign the building.
“We added about 500 tonnes of steel into the project,” Maria says.
The project indeed came in on budget and on time, cutting down on site costs and labour.
The final design had to meet strict criteria for vibration control, as well as a long span flexible laboratory design for future use which Structural Challenge was able to deliver.
The design also benefited, looking more aesthetically appealing than the concrete alternative.
It was the largest and most expensive project Maria and her company have ever taken on.
The award is the best reward for her team’s work Maria says. “It was a huge buzz, the biggest thing for us was that it was quite a difficult project, from a stress perspective it was pretty high stress,” she says.
“It was just really good for my staff that were working on that project to get that recognition. It was a good way to say you’ve done a good job.”
Maria’s company has become one of Victoria’s most decorated and sought after steel fabricators.
Launching the company 15 years ago, Maria now has 30 staff under her and 50 subcontractors on the books.
A career in the steel industry was never directly on the cards for her, but it soon became a love when she got the first taste of what the industry was like.
“My first job was with a very small Greek steel fabricator, a local guy in Huntingdale, and that’s where I started doing accounts and that kind of thing,” she says.
“I was at uni studying marketing, and I just sort of fell in love with steel and steel construction.”
After a stint in marketing and human resources, Maria discovered that nothing could really interest her as much as working with steel could.
It was a bit of a shock for her Greek parents.
“You don’t grow up as a Greek girl going ‘I really want to be in steel construction’,” she says.
“When I finished my degree and I was still working at the steel fabricator, my dad said to me, ‘OK, now go get a real job. You didn’t go and study at university to work in an ergostasio (factory)’.”
Her family soon came around, and her father until recently was an integral part of Structural Challenge.
One of the unavoidable challenges in setting up her business was getting people to take her seriously.
“Obviously there are not many women in the industry, let alone anyone that runs their own business,” she says.
“For many years, even when I was managing, it was always ‘can I speak to the manager?’. They thought I was the secretary.”
Maria says she never got too upset with it. Rather than fighting it, she would work on proving herself and her abilities.
The company’s motto is ‘don’t try to be the biggest, try to be the best’.
Structural Challenge has had a hand in many of Melbourne’s well known buildings.
The iconic glass ceiling and Highpoint shopping centre was Structural Challenge’s creation. They also had a hand in Melbourne Grammar School’s Nigel Peck Centre for Learning and Leadership.
“That was a tough job,” Maria says.
“We had to close down the tram line at 5 o’clock in the morning, because we had big cranes up there.”
Both buildings won the company an Australian Steel Institute fabricators award.
Currently in quite an impressive project, Maria is overseeing the construction of a new $5.5 million office building in Christchurch.
The company has invested a lot of time and effort in seeing the earthquake-ravaged city rebuilt.
“They’ve got a shortage of labour and skill sets over there, and we’re there, hopefully adding a bit of value,” she says.
For more information on Structural Challenge visit www.structuralchallenge.com.au