Christchurch
Barbados Street is home to the first large commercial rebuild in the Christchurch CBD since the devastating February earthquake. Just over 600 square metres of floor area over two levels houses the Kirk Roberts office and other tenancies.
The concept was fundamentally based around an existing building; a tired and aging office/warehouse constructed of a concrete frame and masonry block infill wall.
The design creates a new first floor level structure that encompasses the original building, a collaboration of the old and new. A new concrete suspended floor slab was built within the existing walls and the existing steel portal frame cut at the base and extended to raise the roof structure to form the new first floor space. The top of the original parapet forms the windowsill to the new level. Precast concrete panels were selected as a functional and cost effective option to form the upper walls providing both the exterior cladding and structure system. As structural engineers it also allowed Kirk Roberts to exhibit the use of concrete design identifying the building with the nature of their work.
Construction of the building alterations were well underway by the time of the February 22nd 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The new floor slab had been installed and the new upper precast panels erected. It was a critical stage in the construction awaiting connection to the main superstructure, which was to begin the following day, unfortunately one day too late.
In the short term it appeared that the building could undergo some remedial repair work and for construction to continue with the build. Consequently further examination and site levels were carried out and it was found that the existing building and foundations had subsided due to liquefaction at one corner of the site, well in excess of acceptable tolerances. Numerous options were discussed to re-level the building, however the final decision was to demolish the entire building and start over.
As the existing offices of Kirk Roberts in the CBD had now been severely damaged, the need for construction of the new building and company headquarters was required more than ever. It was decided to effectively rebuild the building as per the existing concept to avoid further delays with Planning and Resource Consent Issues. A new gravel raft foundation system was designed and a revised structural design completed and consented.
The interior colour palette is predominantly Resene Black White (grey white), accented with a striking feature wall of Resene Daredevil (fluoro orange) in the entry area and Resene Colorwood interior wood stain tinted to Resene Pitch Black (tar black) topcoated in Resene Aquaclear waterborne urethane clear on plywood booth seats and white ceilings. All interior paints are Environmental Choice approved with Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen on main wall areas, Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss waterborne enamel on wet area walls, doors and trim, and Resene Ceiling Paint on ceiling areas. Timber is enhanced with clear coats of Resene Aquaclear.
Exterior spandrel panels are finished in Resene X-200 tinted to Resene Double Foundry (hot charcoal). Steelwork is finished in Resene Uracryl 403 tinted to Resene Daredevil and Resene Uracryl 404 tinted to Resene Double Foundry and concrete feature areas in Resene Lumbersider low sheen waterborne tinted to Resene Daredevil. To protect the fresh paintwork from the risks of graffiti, Resene Uracryl Graffitishield semi-gloss has been applied.
The design of the new building has incorporated numerous recycled elements from the existing building. The original steel portal frames, which are exposed to the high sloping ceiling of the first floor fit out, the existing timber roof purlins were machined and used as horizontal wall cladding forming the interior ‘box’ housing the meeting rooms, reception counter and staff room walls. Some of the existing precast panels from the pre earthquake build have been recycled as boundary fences to the carparking area.
With the building complete staff have been able to turn their attention to helping others with their rebuild projects.
Architectural Specifier: Kirk Roberts Consulting Engineers
Building Contractor: Freeman Ball Developments
Client: KRM Holdings Ltd
Painter: Brett Day, Day Bros Painting Ltd
Precast: Lanyon & LeCompte
Resene: Melanie Arnold, Architectural Services Representative
From the Resene News – issue 3/2013
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