24 | Complex extension takes shape The office refurbishment included new ceilings, services such as lighting, sprinklers, fire alarms, audio, data and security systems, along with new floor coverings and wall linings, all coordinated around an IT server room that could not be taken offline. T T from page 22 Watts & Hughes Construction REGIONAL SECURITY. FENCING. SOLUTIONS. We can help Security Fencing Security Gates (Hinged or Sliding) Compounds & Enclosures Repairs Razor Wire Tennis Court Fencing Safety Fencing Pool Fencing Call or Email us now Freephone 0800 4 A Fence (0800 423 362) Phone (03) 374-3510 19 Yukon Place Hornby South info@kcfencesystems.co.nz kcfencesystems.co.nz JJSTEEL.NZ Proudly Supporting Watts & Hughes Fabrication & Erector SOUTH ISLAND WIDE Structural Steel P: 03 366 8679 M: 021 322 847 E: admin@jjsteelc. o.nz A new 150-metre pumped sewer line, running the length of the building, added another layer of coordination. “The new line had to be installed and commissioned before the existing sewer system, which ran beneath the new foundations, could be removed and the new foundations in this area installed,” says Josh. Installation of two new transformers and main switchboards at the site also had to be carefully co-ordinated with the existing operations involving multiple overnight shutdowns to complete livening works and bring the existing distribution centre power over to the new system. Once foundations were complete, precast panel installation ran alongside the structural steel erection over a three-month period, followed by the roof and cladding install using ColorsteeL. Josh says weather posed the greatest difficulty at this stage, with wind sweeping across the large site some days and preventing install being able to take place. Once the roof and cladding were finished, post-tensioned floor slabs were poured in three separate sections of around 5500sqm each, requiring careful coordination so that racking and protection fixings could be bolted into the slab around the post-tension tendons. Services fit-out, racking installation, line marking and protection followed in the main warehouse. “The racking installers are a subcontractor of Woolworths and we had to make sure we had areas ready for them by certain dates,” Josh says. Running in parallel, a new dispatch office was built inside the main warehouse extension, complete with an open-plan office, meeting room, toilets and lunchroom, alongside similar facilities in the new gatehouse and entry house, and a 200sqm office extension. Ahead of the office extension and refurbishment, the team completed a 1500sqm extension to the staff car park, which also housed a temporary site village of portable buildings, including meeting rooms, a lunchroom, office, toilet, shower blocks and commercial kitchen. “Services to the village had to be run over a live roadway via a purpose-built scaffold gantry, while a temporary walkway had to be repeatedly relocated to suit ongoing works and gave staff safe access through the construction site to the existing distribution centre,” says Josh. The office refurbishment itself included new ceilings, services such as lighting, sprinklers, fire alarms, audio, data and security systems, along with new floor coverings and wall linings, all coordinated around an IT server room that could not be taken offline. Stage 2, now underway, comprises alterations within the existing distribution centre and installation of a new MHE charging centre for forklifts, along with associated line marking and protection. Stage 3, which will run concurrently, will deliver structural upgrades to bring the existing warehouse up to 80% of new building standard (NBS), including new structural steel and foundation work. The wider project also includes 11,500sqm of new roadways and weighbridges. At peak, the project will employ between 80 and 90 staff on-site, supported by Josh, four site managers and a quantity surveyor. The project is earmarked for completion by early 2027. “We’ve got a good management team on-site complemented well with a great group of subcontractors, all working together with the same goal to deliver a successful project outcome,” says Josh. “Once completed, it will demonstrate and reinforce our ability to work well within live environments, working with clients to accommodate their needs and requirements every step of the way, to achieve the best project outcome for all parties. “We always strive to deliver a high quality of workmanship across all facets and pride ourselves on great communication and the ability to deliver to programme or better.”
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