Hugh Brown Drive Part I

Like many projects it all seemed pretty easy at the start, but this building wasn’t going to let us get away with an easy job.

This Auckland project started well, with the scaffolding and shrinkwrap going up easily enough and the demolition works progressing well. As the building is occupied by WINZ and BEST, noise controlled demolition and material installation was key. The team started often at 4 or 5 AM in order to erect internal partitions and the like.  This commercial building was also located across the street from a residential area which added further noise and time of work restrictions.

Once the demolition was completed for Stage 1, it became clear that the existing timber infill walls were not only in bad shape, but were no longer plumb. On a building which is intended to be clad in metal cladding, with a single elevation covering three floors, and stretching nearly 50 metres, walls out of plumb were a major issue!  To add insult to injury the window sills and heads were also inconsistent in height.

The team worked tirelessly to rectify these defects, install the new structural steel entry canopy and the structural steel roof section over the existing light well. With only a few weeks until Christmas, the next goal is to get the roof framing prepared for the first stage of roof replacement.