22 | Whangarei District Council and Arco Group REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT � Russell Fredric Complex restoration well underway Badly damaged by fire in October 2019, Whangarei’s former municipal building is steadily rising from the ashes. Opened in 1903, it contained the municipal offices (town hall), library and reading rooms. An annex was added in 1950, and a hall on the original building was demolished in the late 1970s due to structural problems. Whangarei District Council has been operating from its new $59 million civic centre Te Iwitahi since early 2023; the council had previously operated from Forum North, and subsequently moved to other buildings due to Forum North not meeting earthquake-resilience standards for use as a civic building. Whangarei District Council project manager Gerard Sugrue says the town hall was being tenanted by community and other organisations before the fire, which originated from an electrical fault, causing millions of dollars worth of damage. In mid-2021, the council engaged RS-Eng and Mandeno Design to begin work on the design of the internal alteration required for structural strengthening. Whangarei-based company Arco Construction was engaged early 2022 on an early contractor involvement (ECI) contract for technical advice on the buildability and optimisation of the design. “They investigated what made up the foundations, what was happening behind the wall linings – the brick and the wall – as well as removing some of the cladding to see what the fire did, and what work was required. They worked with the engineers during that ECI period.” The approximately $6 million restoration contract was subsequently awarded to Arco, with the main construction work starting mid2023, and completion due by the end of this year. The town hall was largely constructed with brick, mortar and timber, which in later years was augmented by earthquake strengthening. The repair and upgrade work includes full reinstatement of all the fire-damaged areas, replacement of the entire roof, seismic strengthening, and redesign of the office space layout to make it more user friendly. Accessibility is also being improved, while the installation of a new lift will enable better access to the upper levels of the building. Throughout the process, Heritage NZ has been consulted and engaged to ensure the heritage feel and fabric of the building remains; however, this has been made more complex and challenging due to needing to find cost-efficient solutions to satisfy building code requirements, particularly in regard to fire safety. Some of the structural work involved removing the floor where the foundations had to be strengthened to support new steel portals, while the outer layer of bricks had to be bonded to the inner layer, a process that included drilling thousands of holes. The building’s age has contributed to some of the challenges, Gerard says. The renovation has encountered unexpected delays due to discrepancies between the design plans and the actual site conditions. “As work progressed, it became evident that existing structures and materials were not as initially documented, leading to unforeseen challenges.” The clock tower that was on top of the building could not be rescued, so a new steelframed one was constructed and lifted into place early December last year. The original clay-tiled roof has been replaced with replica coloured-steel tiles. “The roof has gone on and the annex out the back, which was the 1950s’ annex, is getting strengthened at the moment,” says Gerard. “All the strengthening of the original 1910s’ building is completed, and they are in the process of framing up all around the steel to fire-proof it and start lining, running electrical, plumbing and those sorts of things.” Civil Structural Geotech Engineering Northland Since 1952 09 438 3273 www.RSEng.co.nz
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