There’s a new building in town, going up on the waterfront, and I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now. The 20 Customhouse Quay project (code named XXCQ) is already proving to be the most interesting building in Wellington, and technologically, perhaps the most advanced structural solution for a high rise in the whole country. It certainly has me intrigued.

The project is definitely visually very different from any other building in Wellington. It is externally supported by a diagrid of criss-crossed steel tubes, and these sit on a perimeter of base isolated foundations. Diagrids are cool – inherently much stronger than a more straightforward orthogonal grid, and consequently much lighter in terms of tonnes of steel used – there’s a saving of something like 20% of the steel used. The other prominent diagrid tower building I know of is the Hearst tower in New York, built a few years ago by Foster and Partners.
We covered that similarity in a couple of previous posts on this site, here and also here.

The building is on the site of the former BP House, which was demolished or so a year ago, being a bit old and shagged out. Probably just in time too, considering the recent shenanigans over tall buildings on reclaimed land! Prime waterfront location that it is, the site was always going to attract attention, and the resulting development is making the most use of its fantastic views overlooking the harbour. Far be it for me to suggest that the staff who will occupy the building may want to do some work occasionally, but the temptation to stare out the window will be pretty overwhelming…

Architects are Studio Pacific and Engineers are Dunning Thornton. Contractors are Scarbro, an Auckland contractor – at least, I haven’t noticed them in Wellington before. The Developer is Newcrest, the developer of the Vodafone building and NZI centre in Auckland (built by Scarbro for Newcrest), and the redevelopment of Shed 22 in Wellington a decade or more ago. This building looks like it will be Newcrest’s flagship development, certainly one in which they will be very proud.

The steelwork rolls in to XXCQ daily, with each giant row of X going up 3 floors at a time. This must lead to some interesting welding in the factory (Steelwork fabrication by MJH in the Hutt, or so the guys on site tell me) where it is being superbly stitched together, and I guess that the diagonal nature means that every time it clicks together, you know it is rigid and in the right place – you can’t lie with a triangle! Millimetre perfect? Is there a BIM model in play? Is the architect’s steel model the same as the engineers? And are they both the same as the one that MJH is working from? You’d have to hope so – there is no room for errors here. Super stiff!!

The downside of a diagrid, if there is one, is that you have structural elements go racing past your window on an angle, but that actually makes the view more exciting rather than less. The NZI Centre in Auckland is a mini version of a diagrid I suppose, but I think this is the first time we have seen this technology on such a scale.

Once the 3-story high perimeter is in, the floors are installed (i.e. steel decking and concrete laid), top floor first, and then the two lower floors. All the beams are on site with large numbers of holes already punched through, for maximum services flexibility as well as a saving in the weight of the steel used. Altogether, it’s such a clever building – we should do this more, and I’m guessing that from now on, we certainly will. Glazing this structure is going to be interesting as well, and now that they are up to about level 9, the glazing probably isn’t far behind.

We can’t see the base isolation at present (and we may never see it either, as it may always be covered over) on this project but it has never been done on this scale before in NZ to my knowledge, i.e. a 14 storey building. Obviously piles will go deep down through the reclaimed land down to the bedrock on the seabed, and at basement level there must be a complete set of steel, rubber and lead bearings that function as the base isolation. We’ve got this feature in a few buildings in Wellington that I know of, with the new buildings (Wellington Hospital, Te Papa, etc) being easier to install it into than the existing buildings where it has to be retrofitted (Parliament, and the old Town Hall – one day!). Probably not on Defense House at present, but maybe it will be for the rebuild? What I like about this is that it is a New Zealand developed system, and moreover: a Wellington developed solution (well, the Hutt really…). It’s brilliant. The Japanese use it all the time on their tall buildings as well as their low buildings, but this is the first time we have done it on a 14 storey tower. There is a video from Japan at the time of their massive earthquake / tsunami event in 2011, taken from one of the tall office buildings, and all around the buildings are gently swaying, presumably all on lead/rubber base isolators. None of those buildings fell down – not so much as a ceiling tile was displaced in central Tokyo in these base isolated buildings. Quite a difference from our un-base-isolated buildings here…

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Stainton Wanoa says his Site Safe scholarship has opened doors to new opportunities.

A new job and a bold attitude to leadership are just some of the things Site Safe scholarship recipient Stainton Wanoa has gained from his award.

The 2014-2015 Maori category winner says the free training awarded by Site Safe as part of his scholarship has opened doors to a new career path, including landing him a new job at Scarbro Construction as Services and Façade Manager.

Stainton was employed as a Site Manager with Naylor Love when he was awarded the scholarship, which entitled him to complimentary training at Site Safe.

He has since completed his Certificate in Construction Site Safety, a qualification which he says helped him score his new job.

“The company I’m with now saw that, and I didn’t even have to have an interview. They were a new company to Wellington and they needed someone that knew the place and had a health and safety background.”

The only employee to hold a Certificate-level qualification, Stainton looks after the company’s health and safety in Wellington, and has been shoulder-tapped to apply for the national role at head office in Auckland.

As Services and Façade Manager, he is now responsible for ensuring the smooth installation of electrical, plumbing, drainage and mechanical equipment on a 14-storey build.

A keen believer in the ethos that people, not projects should come first, Stainton says the Site Safe training helped him adopt a bolder attitude to leadership in health and safety.

“It’s owning it, really. For me, it’s about if I see something, say if I walk past it, to speak up and not be scared – it’s all about leadership and taking responsibility.

“Sometimes people are in the zone and they just do stuff without thinking. That for me was the kicker; that was what stayed with me, that even if I think it’s right, I should still question it.”

Having witnessed several major accidents as an apprentice, Stainton says he has always had a strong focus on health and safety.

“That’s the real driver, taking care of people. I’m a little bit different in that I’m all about the people, rather than the project.”

And with experience as a rugby captain, taking on a leadership role was something that came naturally.

As well as being “pretty chuffed” at receiving the scholarship – and being flown up to Auckland to attend the graduation ceremony – it had been a big boost for the team at Naylor Love in Wellington, who had never before had an employee recognised with a scholarship.

For now, Stainton says he is weighing up his next challenge and considering stepping up to the role in Auckland.

This year’s Site Safe Scholarships are now open to full-time employees of Site Safe member companies. The four categories for entry are: under 25, open, Maori, and Pasifika. For more information on how to apply, see the scholarship page. Entries close on Monday, September 26.

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Scarbro Construction awarded National Category Winner – Residential and Silver Award Winner for Queens Residences Project at the 2017 New Zealand Commercial Project Awards.

Project: Queens Residences

Entrant

Scarbro Construction LImited

Project Partners

Leuschke Group Architects (Architect/Designer), Scarbro Construction Limited (Construction Company)

Owned by

 

This high-rise residential apartment building was built on a difficult, narrow, inner-city site where access to surrounding buildings had to be maintained at all times. Many elements were manufactured off site and delivered ready to install, demanding meticulous planning and coordination.

Judges comments

This 28 storey residential apartment complex of 274 apartments in Auckland CBD is on a difficult narrow inner city site with adjoining multi-level buildings requiring access to be maintained at all times. The contract was for a completely finished building with all apartments fitted out ready for occupation. It was completed on time, within budget and to a high quality standard. Delivery of materials had to be meticulously planned due to limited access during working hours and traffic congestion. It is a credit to Scarbro that this project was completed with minimum complaints from neighbours in adjacent buildings.

www.commercialprojectawards.co.nz

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Project : University of Auckland Faculty of Engineering Research Building 906, Auckland

Entrant

Scarbro Construction (Construction Company)

Project Partners

Jasmax Architects (Architect/Designer), RCP (Engineer)

Owned by

University of Auckland

Having outgrown the existing facility, the new building has the largest seismic testing capabilities in Australasia. Part of the wider university site, a previously commercial site has been transformed into a learning hub for the future.

Judges Comments

This deceptively simple building form houses large-scale testing facilities, together with academic research and office spaces with state-of-the-art features including solar chimneys for natural ventilation.

Several innovative construction solutions were the product of an extraordinarily close and positive relationship within the extended client/builder/consultant team.

 

www.commercialprojectawards.co.nz

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The four-storeyed concrete and steel facility houses the largest seismic testing facility in Australasia and will form part of the UoA’s Newmarket campus.

“This project is unique to New Zealand and is a huge step up from the original facility that the University had, so it was important that we investigated and researched the build ability,” said Michael Cairns, Project Manager for Scarbro Construction. “We worked with Australian firm Kane Construction who built a similar facility at Melbourne’s Swinburne University in 2011. This allowed us to discuss and compare building methodologies which imparted further confidence that our approach was comparable.”

The facility was built as two separate buildings converging only on the top floor to become a unified structure. For Cairns this enabled ease of management as two separate teams worked concurrently on what was treated as two projects for the majority of the build.
Concrete is the key ingredient in the build so Scarbro and Firth stuck with the tried and true mixes used on the ASB Building. “Why change what isn’t broken,” said Peter.

Due to the intricacies of the project four sample sections for each of the strong wall and the floor were poured to ensure that they got the formula and the method just right and to iron out any issues. The requirement to have 722 sleeves – cast the full depth of the slab – in the 255m², 600mm thick strong floor meant that getting the sample sections right was imperative to the success of the project.

But it was the strong wall cells that were the test for Michael and his team. The core of each cell of the strong walls and floor is accessible via a small enclave through which researchers can crawl to adjust or attach bolts. A portion of the strong wall works in conjunction with the testing hall’s shake table.

The structural testing walls reach nine metres. This allows capacity, for buildings up to three storeys, to be earthquake assessed. Steel sleeves cast within these concrete strong walls and floor allow for fixings to hold the test structures in position.
The other side of the building consists mainly of office and teaching spaces. On the ground floor there is a timber conditioning room, a fog room, and there are timber workshop areas adjacent to the testing hall.  Level 4 at this stage will be left vacant for future development.

To complete the look the building is wrapped in a combination of unitised curtain wall glazing, precast panels and accoya timber vertical shiplap cladding.

“There is 1664m³ of concrete in this structure all poured insitu, including the walls,” explains Gavin. “With a considerable amount of form work used, the pours were quite involved for Scarbro. We did everything we could to assist them. We have worked with them for years so we know them and they know us. It’s more of a collaboration than a supplier-customer relationship. It works well.”

“It was a very involved project,” adds Peter. “Michael lived and breathed this project for over a year. It means we can look at this project and be very pleased with the outcome. I am very proud of my team and very happy with the finished structure.”

The engineering department of the UoA started moving into the state-of-the art facility in mid February.

Resource www.firth.co.nz

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When complete, this building on the former Lion Breweries site will form part of the Unviersity of Auckland’s (UoA) Newmarket Campus where four renovated brewery buildings, along with this new facility will make up a hub for post-graduate enineering research.

Scarbro Construction, who won the tender to construct the UoA Faculty of Engineering Structures Hall (Building 906) in December 2013, took on the project with extensive knowledge behind them, thanks primarily to directors Garry Scarborough and Peter de Nys who conducted in-depth research about building sesimic testing facilties. Post tender, project manager Michael Cairns worked with Australian firm Kane Construction, who built a similar facility at Melbourne’s Swinburne University in 2011. “This allowed us to discuss and compare building methodologies, which imparted further confidence that our approach was comparable,” Cairns said.

The facility is essentially, and was built as, two separate buildings, converging only on the top floor, level four, to become a unified structure. For Cairns, this enabled ease of management
as two separate teams worked concurrently on what was treated as two projects for the majority of the build.

When Progressive Building visited the site in late October 2014, the build was well on the way to completion (scheduled for February 2015). The ground floor is comprised mainly of the testing hall, an impressive area measuring 14 metres from the ground level to the underside of Level 4.

“This building will have the largest seismic testing capabilities in Australasia. With structural testing walls reaching nine metres, it has the capacity for buildings up to three storeys to be earthquake assessed. Steel sleeves cast within these concrete strong walls and floor allow for fixings to hold the test structures in position,” Cairns said.

“Our brief was to produce a strong wall structure (consisting of a two-cell, four-cell and 1000mm-thick wall) and 600mm thick strong floor with 1,273 cast-in steel sleeves at 500 centres in each direction, flush with the finished F5 concrete surface.”

The strong floor spans 255 m² and includes 722 inserts or sleeves. It weighs in excess of 420 tonnes. Cairns said it required a pour of 153m3 of concrete. “It was pumped at a rate of 50m3 per hour, taking three hours from start to finish. The floor incorporates 722 50mm sleeves cast the full depth of the floor at 500 centres each way. Thirteen tonnes of reinforcing went into the strong floor, which was post tensioned in two directions.”

The lower, basement slab is 400mm thick and used 112m3 of concrete. It required 9.77 tonnes of reinforcing also post tensioned both ways.

The 1000mm thick wall stands five metres tall and incorporates 171 steel sleeves. But it was the strong wall cells and floor that required the most due diligence in this project. The core of each cell of the strong walls and floor is accessible via a small enclave through which researchers will be able to crawl into and adjust or attach bolts. A portion of the strong wall works in conjunction with the testing hall’s shake table, another unique and challenging structure to build.

The shake table is capable of imposing a 250kn horizontal force on a test structure and can simulate earthquake conditions of up to +/- 200mm horizontal displacement at up to 0.6m/s. This took some precise planning to construct; the university’s engineer took part in the process, which included a three-stage pour in order to maintain the precise placements of its components.

Two gantry cranes will operate on rails in the testing hall, each with a lifting capacity of 10 tonnes. Together, they will be able to cover 50 metres from end to end and locate the given test structure accordingly.

Due to the requirement for the sleeves to be precisely placed, Cairns said four sample pours were completed for each strong wall, and the floor. “Although this was intially to achieve sign-off from the client, it also identified any issues. From this process, we learnt that you can be presented with either a concave or convex meniscus between the sleeves. This occurs when a liquid, in this case the concrete, meets a solid object, the sleeve.

“Our first wall pours had some of the sleeve ends sitting slightly (1mm) proud of the concrete face. This happened as the inside face of the form ply, attached to the Peri formwork, tightened up unevenly (racked) on the ends of the steel sleeves that were digging into the ply.”

This issue was resolved by seeking the advice of an automotive mechanic and requesting the principles that are applied to torqueing the head of a car engine were applied to the formwork. “A tightening pattern or sequence for the wall ties (divvy dags) was developed, including the crucial torque settings being applied with the use of a torque wrench.”

To elimate the translation of vibrations throughout the building during testing, a 20mm vibration separation was required along the perimeter of the strong floor and shake table.

The other side of the building mainly consists of office and teaching spaces. On the ground floor, a timber conditioning room, a fog room, and timber workshop areas sit ajacent to the testing hall.

On Level 4, the two buildings join as one, with offices on one side (Level 4a), and above the testing hall (Level 4b), a significant clear space, which at this stage will be left vacant for future development.

The building itself is predominantly a concrete structure made up of precast shear walls and floor units, although a significant amount of in-situ concrete works were associated with the testing hall and strong walls and floor contained within it.

The building is wrapped in a combination of unitised curtain wall glazing, precast panels and accoya timber vertical shiplap cladding, which make up the building envelope. The exterior also features a diagrid of white painted structural steel, which while striking, gives little of the building’s complex interior workings away.

Resource www.architecturenow.co.nz/articles/test-hall

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The office block by architects Jasmax was one of just five of the 46 winners to be recognised in two categories, with the jury describing the project as a “benchmark building” and a social success, specifically mentioning its distinctive green living wall.

The awards are peer-reviewed and run by the New Zealand Institute of Architects. All winners will now be eligible for consideration for the New Zealand Architecture Awards, which will be announced in May next year.

Jury convenor, Auckland architect Megan Rule, says the number of winners was reflective of the standard of this year’s entries.

“It’s encouraging to see such excellent work across the board.”

Quad 5 is located on Leonard Issit Drive and houses Auckland Airport’s corporate offices.

Resource www.aucklandairport.co.nz/Corporate/News

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The four-storeyed concrete and steel facility houses the largest seismic testing facility in Australasia and will form part of the UoA’s Newmarket campus.

“This project is unique to New Zealand and is a huge step up from the original facility that the University had, so it was important that we investigated and researched the build ability,” said Michael Cairns, Project Manager for Scarbro Construction. “We worked with Australian firm Kane Construction who built a similar facility at Melbourne’s Swinburne University in 2011. This allowed us to discuss and compare building methodologies which imparted further confidence that our approach was comparable.”

The facility was built as two separate buildings converging only on the top floor to become a unified structure. For Cairns this enabled ease of management as two separate teams worked concurrently on what was treated as two projects for the majority of the build.

Read More …….

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Project: Balfour Apartments

Location: 28 – 30 Balfour Road, Parnell

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Scarbro Construction are proud to announce they have won the 2010 Rider Levett Bucknall Supreme Award at the NZ Property Council awards for the NZI Centre on Fanshawe Street.

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