Eco city in action

As well as providing structural and civil engineering for the Trusts Stadium and Waitakere Civic Centre, ARCL also acted as principal consultants for the stadium's design. Keeping to the council's brief meant designing environmentally sustainable solutions.

"Our brief was to provide a structural and civil engineering design solution that would integrate the architecture with the mechanical systems. Specialist construction methodologies needed to be developed to make these solutions easily constructable," says company director Grant Coombes.

Environmentally sustainable design features include a natural ventilation system for the main stadium, energy efficient air conditioning in specific areas, energy-efficient lighting, solar heating, the use of thermal mass of concrete to reduce the heating and cooling loads within the building, and the collection of rainwater for toilet flushing.

For the Waitakere Civic Centre ARCL utilised hollow shell beams to support the floor, which then enabled the concrete's thermal properties to be used for cooling.

For more details, contact Alan Reay Consultants, PO Box 3911, Christchurch, phone (03) 366 0434 or visit the website: www.arcl.co.nz.

Story by: Trendsideas