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Story: Building and construction industry

Keith Hay’s cabinetmaking factory

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Keith Hay’s cabinetmaking factory

Keith Hay was a religious man who did not tolerate bad language in his workplace – as shown by this large sign in his factory, probably in the 1950s. Hay developed a method of moving buildings in large sections that did not require dismantling. He formed Keith Hay Homes to quickly and cheaply produce prefabricated radiata pine houses. Constructing houses in a central assembly yard and then transporting them to suburban or rural sites, he pioneered a new era of low-cost prefabricated housing in New Zealand.

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Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira

Reference: 1998P

by Sparrow Industrial Pictures Ltd

Permission of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Building and construction industry – Residential construction companies, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/24194/keith-hays-cabinetmaking-factory (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 26 February 2010.