Genette Hilton reckons the Christchurch City Council’s new Art Gallery is a class act. As the senior supervisor in Christchurch for JML, the Australian company with the contract to supply and construct the gallery’s huge glass curtain frontage, she should know. “It’s a real buzz as the scaffolding comes down and you really start to see how it looks,” says the 25-year-old from Newcastle, north of Sydney. The wall’s glass panes are light at the bottom and progressively darker towards the top. “The glass is reflective and set in a kind of patchwork so it catches the light and throws it back in all sorts of interesting ways.” More rain than normal for spring has put pressure on her and her local subcontractors. “It’s been a real challenge, but we’ve picked up the pace and it’ll be pretty well done by Christmas,” Genette says. “That’s the plan, home by Christmas.” For those interested in a similar career, Genette is a graduate of Newcastle University’s four-year degree course in Building Project Management, part of the architecture faculty. Although she was the only woman to graduate in her class of 25, she says women are getting into construction management and she doesn’t think gender is an issue in the industry. “I never really have any problems. If you show you’re fair dinkum and having a go, most people respect that.”