Business South October 2020

10 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Mitre 10 Mega Wanaka Mitre 10 Mega coming to Wanaka TT Richard Loader A triumph of generous spaces await cus- tomers when Mitre 10 Mega Wanaka opens its doors for business in the town’s exciting new Three Parks business centre towards the end of the year. Designed by Bernard Johnston Architects and constructed by Calder Stewart, the new building will offer its customers 5000 square metres of retail space, 4000sqm of garden centre, a one hectare trade and timber yard, generous car parking and a Columbus Cafeand playground—providing a total end-to-end life- style experience for the booming Wanaka area. While the sheer size of the new Mega store is impressive, so too is its use of innovative T T to page 12 building materials and its ambition to operate off-the-grid six months of the year, subject to seasonality and available sunlight hours. Co-owner Martin Dippie says the building has been “future-proofed”, incorporating resilient technology in its design, replete with a roof-top solar farm. “The solar array is grid-tied, which means any surplus generation is exported back into the national grid.” Martin explains. “Coupled with LED smart lighting technolo- gy throughout and automatic and dimmable lighting controls throughout the retail spaces, the solar energy provides for a sustainable and environmentally-sound solution.” The building’s mezzanine floor structure, trade offices, staff facilities and cafe will use 700sqm of cross-laminated timber (CLT). CLT is an innovative construction method involving a minimum of three layers of timber, glue laminated at 90 degrees to each other, creating a lightweight but solid timber prod- uct. “The internal design of the store makes extensive use of CLT in the mezzanine office areas and café. In addition to excellent ther- mal, seismic and noise ratings, a key benefit of using CLT is carbon sequestration, with the timber acting as a carbon store.” The retail area features Kingspan light- weight insulated panel technology to help improve the building’s thermal performance, along with passive stack effect air ventilation in the central raised roof. “Coupled with LED smart lighting technology throughout and automatic and dimmable lighting controls throughout the retail spaces, the solar energy provides for a sustainable and environmentally-sound solution.” Sitting beneath the beauty and majesty of Mt Iron, the impressive new store has found a fitting home to serve its growing community.