| 23 Watts & Hughes Construction - Te Whare Hono O Tūwharetoa Watts & Hughes’ contracts manager Cole Weston was charged with delivering the project to the high standard it deserved. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT When Strata Group were engaged by property consultants Egmont Dixon to undertake both structural and civil engineering on the new multi-storey Te Whare Hono O Tuwharetoa it provided the opportunity to introduce leading-edge seismic design and resilience to the IL4 building’s structure. “Our structural design involved the superstructure of the building itself,” says Luke Price, Strata Group’s lead structural engineer for the project. “That included all the structural steel and concrete, along with a lot of leading innovation. In the steel frame we’ve used a beam-column joint called the Optimised Sliding Hinge Joint (OSHJ), which was developed by the University of Auckland. The design guide for OSHJ came out just before we commenced design of this building. When an earthquake shakes the building, the OSHJ slips, dissipating energy, and reducing the impact on the building.” Luke says that while sliding hinge joints are not new, the technology used in the Te Whare Hono O Tuwharetoa building is an updated version that self-centres, and pulls the building back level again, after an earthquake. “We have also used Buckling Restrained Braces (BRBs) which are also quite innovative. The civil design for this project included all the 3 Waters pipework and car parking.” Located in Hastings, Strata Group was established in 2008 to deliver high quality structural and civil engineering projects for its clients. Undertaking projects throughout Hawke’s Bay and Taupō, and expanding further a ield depending on the project and need, Strata Group has grown to a team of thirty-two specialist sta including structural engineers, civil engineers, 3D draughtsmen, and with project management capability. The size, scale and range of our projects has certainly grown over the years, says Luke. “We’re now divided into four teams including Commercial/Residential structures; Industrial structures, which forms a signi icant amount of our work; Civil Engineering, which does a lot of land development and residential subdivisions as well as commercial 3 Waters, and our Seismic engineering team focuses on assessment and strengthening. In addition to the design aspect, our Civil team handles resource and building consent reporting. On the industrial side, we also o er project management and lead consultancy, and we can also assist with contract management.” Strata Group prides itself in assembling and collaborating with other professional consultancies to ensure the best people are involved in each speci ic project, to get the best project outcome for the client. “Collaboration with our clients is key in ensuring we deliver the high-quality project they expect, for the right price and time frame.” Leading edge design +64 6 876 7646 | 308 Queen Street East, Hastings | admin@sgl.nz www.stratagroup.net.nz Strata Group is proud to have worked on the Taupo District Council: New Office HQ project, alongside Watts & Hughes
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=