Our heritage

Pioneers of the past, present and future

In 2025, we celebrate a major milestone: 140 years of shaping the urban fabric of our country. It’s a moment to reflect on the projects, people, and partnerships that have defined our journey—pioneering not just in the past, but also in the present and the future.

Our story begins with our founders, John Harrison and Charles Grierson, who met on the immigrant ship Sam Mendel sailing from London to New Zealand in 1877.

They'd struck up a friendship before going their separate ways upon docking – Charles to farm and John to practice architecture.

John tried to find work as an architect upon arrival, but the economic depression of the 1870s hit New Zealand hard, meaning people didn't need architectural services. John decided to retrain as a surveyor, and work began picking up quickly.

Gaining a reputation as a trailblazing pioneer, John, like many surveyors of the time, was described as an adventurer, camping for weeks at a time on job sites.

And it's this embodiment of pioneering that still stands at Harrison Grierson today. 140 years on, our people are pioneers of today and tomorrow. Our contemporary success is built on generations of knowledge and expertise; it is our people, right here and now, who keep Harrison Grierson dynamic, young, and relevant.

Take a walk with us down memory lane, revisiting some of the most iconic projects and milestones in our company's history:

• 1877 - John Harrison and Charles Grierson sail into the Waitemata Harbour, striking up a friendship during the trip before going their separate ways upon docking – Charles to farm and John to practice architecture

• Late 1870s - John Harrison retrained as a surveyor after struggling to find work as an architect due to the economic depression

• 1885 – John Harrison set up his surveying practice in Auckland - 140 years ago!

• 1890s – John Harrison opened large tracts of Crown and native lands for development and was eventually known as a trail-blazing pioneer responsible for some of New Zealand’s first and major urban and rural subdivisions

• 1912 - John Harrison met back up with Charles Grierson to form Harrison and Grierson, which was considered the largest survey practice in Auckland at the time

• Early 1900s - Our surveyors surveyed the first, large resident subdivision in Auckland, Jervois Estate. With horse and scoop, the developers shifted 750,000 cubic yards of clay to create 300 building sites served by two miles of roading on over 40 acres of broken country to the west of the inner city

• Early 1920s – We carried out the development of the Mission Bay Estate for the Melanesian Mission Trust Board – the beginning of Auckland’s eastern suburbs. The Kohimarama subdivision for the St John’s College Trust Board was next, followed by another church leasehold subdivision

• 1935 – The first State Housing scheme was established with the election of the first Labour Government, and our team was given the task of surveying one of the first state housing subdivisions in Auckland at the Harp of Erin, where the tram line stopped past Green Lane

• 1945 - Our teams started to work for New Zealand Forest Products, surveying and later designing and laying out the burgeoning new town of Tokoroa and the new mill at Kinleith

• 1950s – Charles Grierson had become a dominant figure in the affairs of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and the Survey Board, including as President of the Institute and a sponsor of the Surveyors Act 1938, a milestone in the development of the surveying profession

• 1960s - We surveyed the New Zealand Steel Mill at Glenbrook and the Auckland Harbour Board's Downtown Development

• 1983 - 1987 – We were involved in gas pipeline work from Taranaki and Waikato through to Rotorua

• 1992 - 1995 – Our surveyors were the first in New Zealand to use GPS receivers to monitor the position of the ‘tower jump form’ for the Sky Tower

• 2005 – Our surveyors began work on the Britomart Train Station in central Auckland and continue to do so today

• 2005-2025 – We continue to be involved in multiple nation-building projects throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. From Hobsonville Point, Commercial Bay, Red Hills Green, expansion of Pokeno and Hingaia Peninsula, Rangiuru Business Park, Titanium Park, Aotea Block in Porirua and many other urban growth areas in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch

• 2018 – 2025 - We were an integral development partner of the LEAD Alliance, supporting Kāinga Ora to redevelop the Crown housing estate land in Auckland

• 2022-2025 – We were an integral part of the Te Aranga Alliance supporting Kāinga Ora to redevelop the Crown housing estate land in eastern Porirua

And there's plenty more to come. We're 140 years young and just getting started!