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LT McGuinness
Athfield Architects Limited (Architect/Designer), CORA (Engineer), Dunning Thornton Consultants Ltd (Engineer), LT McGuinness (Construction Company), LT McGuinness Ltd (Construction Company)
Willis Bond
The historic Farmer’s Building block was transformed over four stages, involving a mixture of seismic strengthening, demolition, restoration, fit outs, and new builds. With just a 20% NBS rating, the building’s age (pre-WWI) brought its own unique challenges. The project’s resource consent required the preservation and re-use of the building’s heritage elements – most notably, restoration of the historic Cuba Street façade. A local artisan tile maker repaired damaged tiles, and new moulds were created to replicate the façade’s lion heads and shields. The timber floors and cast steel columns were also salvaged and restored. The salvaging and repurposing of materials featured prominently throughout the project. This included existing timber flooring, tin ceilings and timber joists. Wall framing was prefabricated off-site and recycled wool insulation was used for the internal walls. The building’s energy efficiency was an area of focus; key features include flow flushing toilets, solar panels, and recyclable Blue and HDPE hydraulic pipework.
The Farmer's Building is a Category 2 heritage listing and is part of a major urban renewal project in Wellington City. While some demolition occurred, there was extensive seismic strengthening, restoration of historic features, and temporary structural works in the existing façade retention. To eliminate risk, both pre-design and building investigations were put in place, which had an overall positive impact on the cost and general programme of work. This was also aided by the clear communication between the developer, design team, contractor, and the end-user tenant. LT McGuinness have taken a well-thought-out and sensitive approach to seismic strengthening which has allowed the historic features internally to be retained and celebrated.
Aurecon (Engineer), GHD Engineering (Engineer), LT McGuinness (Construction Company), Steven Charles Consulting (Engineer), Studio Pacific Architecture (Architect/Designer)
The iconic Refectory building, constructed in 1929-1930 and designed in a Spanish Mission style, was the second building ever built on the Massey Palmerston North campus. Unfortunately, due to its aging facilities, the building has spent the last two decades dormant. LT McGuinness completed a full strengthening refurbishment, and upgrade whilst retaining the building's original characteristics. Great skill and craftmanship have played a large part in restoring this once beautiful building back to its former glory. The project was challenging due to the need to save as much of the heritage elements as possible. The restoration included a vast amount of decorative plaster work, from the main-entry ceiling through to the grand hall, all created to replicate the original. The restoration included hand-crafted heart rimu doors and recycled matai flooring in the grand hall and common room. Genuine craftsmanship has brought back the grandeur of times past, to be enjoyed by generations to come.
LOC Construction Limited
LOC Construction Limited (Construction Company), Modello Architecture limited (Architect/Designer), Ruamoko Solutions (Engineer), The Building Intelligence Group (Contract management)
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Kate and Walter Sheppard’s kauri villa was built in 1888 and is now classified as a Category 1 historic place on the Heritage New Zealand List. Purchased by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga in 2019 (and opened by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that same year), LOC Construction was engaged to preserve and protect the property’s heritage values. The front four rooms and hallway of the house, which contain the most intact heritage fabric, were converted to a high-quality visitor attraction. These rooms were restored to highlight both the original features, while also acknowledging later modifications. The more-modified rooms at the rear of the house were converted to a flexible, multi-use space for public events, meetings, and private functions. Due to the history of the house, working closely with historians and archaeologists was a critical component of the project, particularly the inherent balancing between conservational principles and building code standards. The house’s restoration plays its part in helping preserve the legacy and achievements of Kate Sheppard, the celebrated leader of New Zealand’s women’s suffrage movement.