Zeal Steel has completed a host of bespoke projects, including the St Clair Esplanade balustrade, Larnach Castle gates, Dunedin railway overbridge and the Dunedin Botanic Garden entrance.
"We specialise in one-off stuff for individual clients," co-owner Laurie Forbes said yesterday.
The company recently completed a $30,000 sculpture for Queenstown artist Morgan Jones, which is being exhibited in the "Sculpture by the Sea" exhibition in Aarhus, Denmark, over the next month.
The exhibition will be hosted by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark and draw about 500,000 visitors.
Keyhole is the fourth work Zeal Steel has manufactured for the artist.
Mr Forbes completed an apprenticeship at Hillside in Dunedin from 1980 to 1984.
"Skills have deteriorated since then. They killed the apprenticeship system back in the early '90s, when they stopped the polytech night school system. Now, the emphasis is all on the employer and it's a shambles. Every old tradesman will tell you that."
