About MBS

Modern Building Solutions (MBS) is a leading New Zealand brand with a proud history of building beautifully crafted, innovative cabins and modular, transportable homes.
Established in 2014, MBS had one goal: to create change in the marketplace, providing high-quality affordable buildings that reflect personalities and change the way people live their lives.

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About MBS

Our Story

A conversation over a few beers is what led to Modern Building Solutions' founders, Matt and John, going halves in building their first cabin. Construction started in John's backyard and his unique style and design gave them instant popularity and soon the phone was ringing. Giving up weekends started paying off and they quickly outgrew the backyard.

Matt was working as an engineer full time and John was building. They both had young families to support, but the freedom of working for themselves was tempting. They set up a shelter on Matt's parents' farm, but could they make it work? There was only one to find out, so they left their full-time jobs and rolled the dice!

At this stage, they were building cabins and tiny homes on wheels which didn't require council consent. They were slowly growing their team and knew there was a real need for housing in New Zealand. To get to into that market they would require council inspections through the building process. This meant they would need industrial land, but Hamilton was too expensive. They found an old half-round barn in Ngāruawāhia and made the move.

Ngāruawāhia turned out to the be perfect location. With locals taking notice they managed to hire a couple more guys and get to work producing consented homes. With Waikato District Council just around the corner, it made inspections quick and each.

As they continued to grow it was time for the next big decision to be made. How could they best use their land to maximise production? Coming from an engineering background Matt knew the best way to do it was to set up a production line. Ironically the only way they could afford a shed to build other people’s homes in, was for Matt to sell his own home. He went all in and sold the house!

Down came the old barn and up went the shed. They now have a new factory with a double production line, producing consented transportable homes and a team of 19 staff.