Urban renewal is changing the face of our cities, as local authorities and developers restore and rejuvenate precincts such as Chews Lane the PCNZ Supreme Award winning project

The diversity of the Chews Lane development made it a complex project for the principal contractors. With pedestrian and street traffic disruption needing to be kept to an absolute minimum in the heart of a bustling city, the construction process offers a showcase of timing, demolition and build skills, teamwork and determination to see the job completed to the mutual satisfaction of developer, architects, city council and ordinary Wellingtonians.

LT McGuinness was the principal contractor for the development. Director Brian McGuinness outlines some of the planning issues from a building perspective.

"A central aspect of this large-scale project was the meeting of the old and the new," says McGuinness. "60 Victoria Street comprising the six-level heritage facade of the Ballinger building, with a new multilevel car park and offices behind is a good illustration of the challenges involved."

The retention of the facade alone governed a lot of the build steps in this part of the development. Trusses were used to anchor the facade to adjacent buildings. Next, holes were punched through the floors of the original Ballinger building structure, and piles and structural steel K bracing were introduced. The old building was then taken down floor by floor, operating from the far side of the retained face up to the rear of the heritage frontage.

"We had to sink construction piles for the new building, as well as temporary piles to support the facade. That often meant working in confined spaces, ill-suited to accommodating the piling rigs required."

In another instance of old meeting new, floor levels of the existing Caledonian Chambers and the Gordons building were jacked up by LT McGuinness to sit level with the floors of the adjacent new offices for the Land Transport Authority.

"Walking through from one building to the next, visitors can enjoy the transition as modern offices give way to the grand old spaces in the heritage buildings, complete with exposed rimu ceilings that had been hidden from sight in an earlier upgrade," says McGuinness.

These examples show the span of construction skills required for just two aspects of the development, but there was also the issue of the site management required to cope with the busy inner-city location.

"We had to erect dust sheets over much of the construction to prevent dirt escaping onto surrounding spaces," says McGuinness. "Noise control was also a factor and we had to work within required hours to address this.

"Then there was the safety of pedestrians and access to the site to consider. Careful planning meant we only had to close Willis Street and Victoria Street on the weekends or outside work hours."

LT McGuinness often works with heritage sites and is now working on the Government House upgrade.

For further details, contact LT McGuinness, phone (04) 384 8455. Website: www.ltmcguinness.co.nz.

Story by: Trendsideas