Community spirit

All commercial projects of this scale come with their own set of challenges and difficulties that have to be overcome during the construction process.

Scarbro Construction negotiated the contract to build the Federal Apartments, a $24 million project, working with Federal Street Trust, Leuschke Group and Stephen Mitchell Engineers.

The first issue that had to be resolved was access to the site, as the turning circle at the end of Federal Street was not able to handle the delivery of structural components. Advanced planning and negotiation with the adjoining property owner allowed Scarbro to rent a carpark so deliveries could be made from Cook Street during the structural phase of the project.

Care had to be taken when piling adjacent to a neighbour's three-storey-high brick boundary wall. The piling rig was within 30mm of the wall at times and seismic monitoring was carried out during the drilling process to ensure the wall was not affected.

Another major challenge was the top-down construction due to the site layout. The company had to prevent damage to neighbouring historic buildings. Level Two was constructed before completing Level One and the balance of the ground floor. Major temporary structural steel propping had to be placed and removed during the structural phase.

Scarbro Construction has 13 years in the construction industry building high-rise residential and commercial blocks, including Altitude, Aura, Volt and Zest Apartments. The company and its team of 60 permanent staff are highly experienced at resolving issues as they arise.

Contact Scarbro Construction, PO Box 11110, Ellerslie, Auckland 1542, phone (09) 580 2554, fax (09) 579 4271. Email: garrys@scarbro.co.nz. Website: www.scarbro.co.nz.

Story by: Trendsideas