124 | COMMUNITY Timaru Boys’ High School: Timaru Construction Preserving the Past. Building The Future. 16 Redruth Street, Timaru T: 03 684 7053 E: admin@timaruconstruction.co.nz W: www.timaruconstruction.co.nz menzies.group@xtra.co.nz PO Box 166, Timaru 7910 | Phone 03 684 8440 0800 102 324 Proud to be associated with Timaru Boys High School When it comes to adding value to a client’s vision NB Architects is at the forefront. We are passionate, innovative and focused on delivering a result that identifies with your project’s goals and ambitions while creating a landmark that stands the test of time. email: admin@nbarchitects.co.nz phone: (03) 684 7918 nbarchitects.co.nz Proud to support Timaru Boys High School Flexibility drives library rebuild The project was funded by the Ministry of Education, which owns the school property. T T Russell Fredric A major rebuild has turned Timaru Boys’ High School’s Harper Library into a more flexible learning and student space while retaining the building’s footprint. Originally constructed as a standard school library in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the building, with its flat-roof design, had flaws that led to leaking, worsened by the addition of skylights, while its distinctive frontage presented further challenges after black mould was discovered within many of the wall cavities. Timaru Boys’ High School rector, Dave Thorp, says the Ministry of Education initially agreed to fund complete replacement of the roof in 2022, followed by supplementary funding for work on the front of the building. “It was a rebuild rather than a ground-up build, but it’s quite a major rebuild if you take the one whole wall off and the whole roof off.” The project was funded by the Ministry of Education, which owns the school property. Construction took about 18 months and cost about $1.75 million, with changes requested during the build contributing to the programme. The rebuild provided the opportunity to simplify the design of the existing exterior, while enhancing and maximising the use of the interior spaces. Rather than reconstructing the original frontage with its series of projections, the school and project team opted to build back to the furthest point, creating additional usable floor area. Timaru Boys’ High School has used local professionals for much of its property work, and the Harper Library project followed that pattern. Josh Newlove and Riley Smith of NB Architects, Timaru, provided the architectural services, with Timaru Construction as the main contractor. Project management was provided by Logic Group which has considerable expertise in school projects. Dave says local capability was an important consideration for the school, particularly given its location in a provincial centre. Timaru Construction has undertaken the majority of the school’s construction work during his seven or eight years as rector. “Working closely with someone and they’re in the same town, that gives you the chance to actually make changes if you have to,” he says. The exterior now has long-run metal cladding, brickwork at the front, and feature lighting that can be used to display messages. Inside, the available space has been configured to better reflect how a contemporary secondary school uses a library. The rebuilt facility provides two classroom spaces and a careers area. Moving careers into the library building freed up space elsewhere for a student centre, while the additional classroom capacity makes better use of the existing building. The digital age, which provides easy access to information, means there are fewer reference books today. “The vast majority of material that’s in a library now is just fiction,” says Dave. “You didn’t need as much room for the library, so we decided to use some of that space in a more practical way.” The rebuild has coincided with wider infrastructure upgrades at the school, including changes to heating and electrical capacity. The library is now heated by large heat pumps as the school moves away from its former boiler-based system. While the library remains a place for senior students to study, it is now used for speaking competitions, board games, school activities and as a place for students to work and spend time during wet weather. “It’s more social than it would have been 40 or 50 years ago,” says Dave. “It fulfils a number of purposes.”
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