140 | Salvation Army: Blue Mountain Adventure Houses Cabins a boon for adventure centre The new accommodation provides comfortable housing for staff living onsite at the Raurimu-based facility, COMMUNITY T T Rosa Watson New staff quarters at the Blue Mountain Adventure Centre in the remote Ruapehu region will be a game-changer for the Salvation Army facility. The new accommodation provides comfortable housing for staff living onsite at the Raurimu-based facility and includes a dormitory and living area with modern facilities, and a four-bedroom family house, both north-facing and well-insulated with double glazing and log burners. The buildings are located a distance from the main centre, which would give staff “a little bit of separation”, Salvation Army regional property and project manager Jeff Myles says. In the past, the centre had struggled to house instructors, he says. “We’ve got one house, which is for a family, and we’ve got another house, which caters for instructors, but we didn’t have enough accommodation.” They had relied on renting nearby holiday homes. “It’s been a little bit of a determent to attracting staff and keeping staff.” Realising the need for extra accommodation, the centre applied to the Salvation Army for funding to build two houses, which was approved. The next step was obtaining resource consent, for which they were assisted by Auckland-based CivilPlan Consultants. “It’s been a bit of a journey,” Jeff says. Another challenge was getting builders to the remote site, so in order to make the process easier, high-quality relocatable buildings were designed and built offsite and transported to the site by Drury-based Transbuild “We went through the design prices with them and modified a couple of standard floor plans,” Jeff says. The company also installed the piles for the buildings. “(The buildings) have been carefully designed and located to the site to maximise the climate, but also trying to blend in with the environment.” Native planting has also been undertaken to enhance the natural surroundings. A major wastewater upgrade was undertaken at the site prior to the project taking place, which was part of the overall plan, Jeff says. “The houses are now connected to that new wastewater system.” The team of tradies that worked on the project have been “phenomenal”, working in a remote and challenging environment, Jeff says. These included Mike Collier Contracting, Central Sparkies, Colin Levien Plumbing and Ken Robertson Building. “It was a fantastic team of tradies all working together to help us achieve this.” Established in 1990, the centre provides outdoor adventure programmes for groups looking to do team bonding and confidence building, with a strong focus on safety. Its mission is to help people reach their potential through the challenge of adventure and break out of their comfort zone. Activities include rafting, mountaineering, rock climbing, canyoning, high ropes and canoeing, caving, tramping, and learning bush skills. With the centre being located close to Tongariro National Park, the natural landscape featuring the Tongariro River, Lake Otamangakau and Mt Ruapehu provides the space for a wide range of outdoor activities, with excellent on-site facilities for a comfortable stay. With many years of combined experience in outdoor leadership and instruction, the team is trained in outdoor safety management and the centre maintains excellence in its safety procedures. Instructors are members of the New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association and the centre is AdventureMark Safety Audit certified. Jeff is thrilled with the new accommodation and what it would provide staff that live there. “It’s a huge achievement really, because it’ll enable (the centre) to provide really good accommodation, which will help them provide a comfortable, warm and healthy living environment for instructors after a hard day out in the elements.” Transbuild Commercial recently delivered two high-quality homes to support the Salvation Army’s team in Raurimu. Built in just 10 weeks, these energy-efficient homes offer comfort, warmth, and environmental sustainability—all delivered through a transparent, fixed-price offsite construction process. Here's what the Salvation Army had to say: "Both buildings are a great quality and will offer our team a new level of comfort and warmth in the sometimes-challenging environment in Raurimu." – Director of Camping, Salvation Army Discover how we can save you time andmoney with fast, reliable, & tailored offsite building solutions. Let’s talk. Proud to partner with the Salvation Army TRANSBUILD COMMERCIAL Clients we work with transbuildcommercial.co.nz
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