| 93 T T Rosa Watson Golden hue to heritage restoration An element of the St James Theatre project was to reinstate previously removed items such as the 1960s central chandelier and recreating plasterwork that would have been in place in 1912. Maycroft Construction BUILDING TARARUA ROOFING LIMITED MEMBER OF ROOFING ASSOCIATION N.Z Proudly Supporting Maycroft Construction (04) 569 3074 office@tararuaroofing.co.nz LOWER HUTT Specialists in all aspects of passive fire protection. www.shearfire.co.nz The stunning restoration of Wellington’s historic St James Theatre project has picked up gold award at this year’s Commercial Awards for locally-based Maycroft Construction. The project, completed in July last year, took out the award in the Heritage category and has also won a merit and excellence awards at the Property Council awards held in June. After an assessment, earthquake-prone buildings are given an earthquake rating, commonly referred to as a percentage of the new building standard (NBS). The project was initially based around achieving 67 per cent of NBS, which is considered to be an acceptable seismic risk. Maycroft’s involvement began in the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) phase where, alongside their customer, Wellington City Council, and consultants, they worked through challenges and risk reduction. Strengthening to the theatre and adjoining ballet building included sprayed concrete shear walls, truss and ceiling strengthening, viscous dampers and Ishebeck micro piles, timber bracing walls, diaphragm steel installation and tie beams, and fibre reinforced polymer to slabs and columns. Additional condition upgrades included new mechanical cooling and ventilation, stained glass refurbishment, theatre services upgrades, seating refurbishments, and paintworks throughout the auditorium. Being a Category 1 heritage building, built in 1912, it had its challenges in maintaining the heritage value of an iconic building while carrying out several different types of strengthening works, CEO Grant Gunn said. “The buildings hold so much history, as well as many different construction methods and approaches used over the years. “This meant that no two parts of the project were similar and Maycroft constantly worked with the consultant and subcontractor teams through challenges that arose and to reach T T to page 94 alternative solutions or methods.” The project had also entailed unique building services and heritage, and architectural considerations, Grant said. “Every component had a specific strengthening methodology as well as a critical part to play as a live theatre, ballet studios and as a much-loved public space.” An element of the project was to reinstate previously removed items such as the 1960s central chandelier and recreating plasterwork that would have been in place in 1912. Maycroft Construction is no stranger to heritage restoration.“We have done a fair amount of strengthening work over the years, often on heritage listed buildings.”
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