It's not the easiest way to earn a crust when you're paid by the brick but, for block-layer Laurie Cook, its the opportunity to contribute to a community icon and do something "a bit different".
Mr Cook is one of about 50 tradespeople working away at the Town Basin in the coming months, crafting Te Kakano, the building which acts as a practice run for the planned Hundertwasser Art Centre.
"There are no levels and no string lines. It's very hard to do because it's the opposite of what you've been taught," Mr Cook said, as he sculpted the curved external wall of the so-called "folly".
The koru-shaped building which will house a seating area and lookout is being constructed under a weather-proof wrap on the grassed area across the service lane from the former Northland Harbour Board and Northland Regional Council building. All going well for fundraisers, the building will be transformed into a Hundertwasser work come June next year, with $10.99 million of the $16.25 million required raised so far.
Mr Cook was one of many involved in the build who had worked with Hundertwasser himself on the artist's Kawakawa toilet project.