News & Insights
Sky Tower to Scott Base
Date
- 2025 June
This year, we celebrate 28 years of Nick Beale’s leadership at RCP. In that time, he’s played a central role in some of New Zealand’s most complex and high-profile projects, while helping shape a business built on trust, consistency, and strong relationships.
Nick Beale
You can’t see Scott Base in Antarctica from the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower, but together, they say something about Nick’s career. One reached into the sky. The other into one of the most remote landscapes on Earth. Both reflect the kind of work he’s drawn to: ambitious, collaborative, and technically challenging.
Before RCP, Nick’s work took him offshore. He spent time in Africa managing the development of a casino and golf resort in Zimbabwe. When he returned to New Zealand, he was appointed project manager for the Sky Tower. Just across the site, Waren Warfield was leading work on the wider SkyCity development. They worked well together and decided to carry on. That decision became RCP New Zealand.
Nick’s philosophy early on was simple: do a good job and the rest will follow. Focus on quality. Back your people. Let your track record do the talking. That mindset helped guide RCP through its formative years and still shapes how the team operates today.
As the business grew, Nick helped guide it through new territory — from pure project delivery into broader advisory work, infrastructure projects, and regional growth. He supported this evolution without losing sight of the basics: clear thinking, good communication, and strong delivery.
“With experience, you learn to see what’s coming,” he says. “It’s like skiing. You don’t just focus on the gate in front of you. You need to read the line a few turns ahead.”
Nick’s work spans some of the most recognisable buildings in the country, from towers that define Auckland’s skyline to complex national programmes involving hundreds of sites. He’s led some of the country’s most recognisable projects – from the Sky Tower and Vero Centre to major civic and commercial developments across New Zealand. More recently, he’s been providing independent Engineer to the Contract services to Antarctica New Zealand on the redevelopment of Scott Base.
He’s proud of the projects, but prouder still of the people who’ve delivered them. Because for Nick, the measure of success isn’t just what gets built. It’s how teams come together to make it happen, and how that experience carries forward.
Those who’ve worked with Nick often mention his fairness and the trust he builds through thoughtful leadership. He’s the kind of person who stays calm in tough moments and approaches challenges with care. He’s also known for how he mentors and supports others, helping people find their feet and grow into leadership roles of their own.
After nearly three decades, Nick still finds the greatest satisfaction in the outcomes that matter most.