Heritage remains key

Preservation of the historic Jean Batten building was a key design feature of the new Deloitte Centre.

Tony Galavazi, project director of structural engineering consultancy, Holmes Consulting Group says integration of the Jean Batten heritage building portions into the development was one of the more challenging structural aspects of the design.

A steel access gantry supported the heritage building during demolition and the subsequent excavation of a four-level underground basement immediately beneath. The heritage building determined the floor levels for the podium. Steel floor beams in the new building were carefully designed to incorporate services reticulation within the restricted ceiling space.

"The construction of four basement levels within a tight island site in downtown Auckland was another significant challenge," says Galavazi.

A secant piled solution was selected to keep the surrounding soil and water out of the site during the deep excavation process. The partial top-down construction methodology allowed the main concrete core of the building to be advanced ahead of the basement completion.

Several major external features help to define the architecture of the building. Two of these, the large main entrance cantilevered canopy, and the roof level Skycatcher, both on Queen Street, required major structural input.

Specialist design expertise from the project fire engineers, Holmes Fire & Safety, improved the fire performance of the steel structure and trimmed more than $600,000 of fire protection costs in the process.

"Close coordination with the interior architects also allowed us to provide a large degree of open interconnection between the podium floors for the tenant," says director Martin Feeney.

For more information, contact Holmes Consulting Group, PO Box 90745, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, phone (09) 965 4789, fax (09) 965 4780. Email: auckland@holmesgroup.com. Or visit the website: www.holmesgroup.com.

Story by: Trendsideas