Family-owned furniture company, Burgtec Australasia, has added another accolade to its swag of award wins in recent years, taking out this year’s Western Australian best of the best furniture award for its WA Parliament refurbishment project.
Family-owned furniture company, Burgtec Australasia, has added another accolade to its swag of award wins in recent years, taking out this year’s Western Australian best of the best furniture award for its WA Parliament refurbishment project.
Designed by Burgtec’s head of research and development, Jim Carlton, the jarrah and leather fit-out used WA native timbers and involved the input of 10 WA furnishing companies.
Burgtec managing director Franz Schubert said the award win was a testament to the quality and strength of WA’s furnishing industry, with the collaborative effort allowing the company to complete the project within the tight time frame.
“Burgtec was the successful company in winning the contract, but we in our own right would never have completed the project without the support of furniture manufacturers in this town,” he said.
The project was part of the total refurbishment of WA Parliament Legislative Assembly, with Burgtec providing the seating fit-out, including all benches and the supply of Oxford executive chairs.
The Balcatta-based company was founded in 1981 by German migrants Wolfgang and Sonja Schubert, who moved to WA 1953.
Their son, Franz, joined Burgtec in 1983 and is now managing director of the company.
Today, Burgtec has about 50 staff, most located at its 7,000 square metre Balcatta head office, warehouse and showroom.
In addition to its network of distributors across all states and territories, Burgtec exports its products to New Zealand, South-East Asia, Western Europe, Japan, and China.
The company has been involved in a number of international commercial projects, including the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Brunei International Airport, Singapore Citibank and the State Energy Commission Nuremburg.
The company also recently opened a 780sqm satellite manufacturing facility in Adelaide to service its Melbourne showroom and east coast clients, and is currently looking at establishing a second east coast showroom in Sydney.
Mr Schubert, who is also the president of the Furnishing Industry Association of Australia, believes that while competition from cheaper imports has affected the local industry, the WA furnishing industry remains strong and vibrant.
“WA has a number of highly skilled and talented people involved in the furniture industry, and the industry should be recognized for what we can do,” Mr Schubert said.
“At the moment we’re all working extra hard to keep the wheels turning. Some businesses are doing well, but could be doing better. But we are feeling the squeeze.”
Mr Schubert believes the local industry can still engage with international suppliers by sourcing some components offshore and value adding in Australia.
“We haven’t got our heads in the sand, the Asian influence is here to stay its not going to go away. It’s one of those things we need to live with,” he said.
