| 103 T T Kelly Deeks ‘Funky’ school build The new standalone two-level classroom block for Amesbury School at Churton Park. SECTION Holmes Construction NZ - Wellington: Amesbury School Long-standing Wellington building company Holmes Construction NZ was proud and grateful to be involved in a unique and extensive education project for Amesbury School. Holmes Construction NZ was engaged as main contractor in 2020 to build a new standalone two-level classroom block for the school at Churton Park, which was originally built in 2012. Comprising nine highly-configurable learning spaces, feature walls, three stairways, a lift, sound rating music room, toilets on both levels, interior climbing wall, arts facility, and a floating deck on the upper floor, this project was built through the height of Covid disruptions and eagerly anticipated by the school community. “It experienced all of the lock downs, the supply chain delays, the materials cost increases, and the labour shortages that occurred during that period,” says Holmes Construction NZ director Ben Holmes. “We were lucky enough to be working with good clients who understood those things were out of our control, and between us and them, and McKenzie Higham Architects and engineers Clendon Burns & Park, we were able to work together to solve the issues.” The project started with an extensive amount of site works, saving time up front by installing stormwater and drainage prior to starting excavation. From there, the two-storey steel and concrete structure, with a heavily detailed Rooflogic Utra Therm MSR roof system, exterior 150 x 50 framing, and walls clad with a mixture of cement sheet and metal cladding was installed. “We undertook extensive detailing with exterior cladding, including welded flashing details, exterior windows with large metal sunshades fixed through the cladding, along with cladding junctions with intersecting different materials,” Ben says. The interior of the building also has extensive detailing around interior finishes including an extensive joinery package and feature walls with individually coloured Heradesign panels, Strandboard, Pinboard, Plywood, and Autex composition board, and a mixture of ceilings and Seratone linings to all bathroom areas. Extensive underfloor heating was installed on both levels and its control area exposed with acrylic, allowing students to see but not access the operation and workings of the building. Throughout the project, and despite the challenges, Holmes Construction NZ maintained excellent relationships with the Ministry, the school, and the consultants. The school remained operational throughout, with the safety of students during school hours being of paramount concern to both the Holmes Construction NZ team and its subcontractors. “We worked alongside the school and the Ministry of Education to mitigate disruption, including traffic management and noise mitigation where possible,” Ben says. “A specialist driveway was created in order to provide safe access along the back edge of the school boundaries, allowing for trucks and deliveries to come and go without disruption to the day to day running of the school.” Holmes Construction NZ handed over the new classroom block to an excited school community in 2023. Like all of Holmes Construction NZ’s projects, this day, and the sense of approval within the community, was the pinnacle of satisfaction for the project team. “We were proud to be involved in the project and grateful for the opportunity,” Ben says. “It’s a fairly unique project in the respect that there is a lot going on in that building, all sorts of funky features which we probably won’t see again for quite some time.” 0800 587 896 Proud to assist Holmes Construction with their labour requirements. We know the trades, so you get better results. Permanent and Temporary placement Logistics & Warehousing Engineering Construction blokhaus.co.nz
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=