Wellington City Council says earthquake resilience works for Wellington Town Hall have been completed in what is a huge milestone for the redevelopment of the 120-year-old building.
Prior to the works, the building was resting on its original unreinforced concrete piles on reclaimed land. But construction teams have, in phases, re-piled the building – propping the building up with steel, and installing new foundations, Council said in a statement.
“As part of that work rubber lead bearing base isolators have been installed throughout the building. Famous already in Wellington for being used in some of our most important buildings, like Te Papa and Parliament House, base isolators are a key part of making a building more likely to get through an earthquake safely,” says Council.
“They’re a combination of rubber, steel, and lead. In an earthquake, they help the building move more gently than the shaking ground and dissipate the earthquake’s energy, which helps reduce damage to the building and what’s inside.”
Senior Project Engineer Eric Osborne, from Holmes NZ LP, says the completion of these works is a huge milestone for the project.
“It’s one of the main critical structural elements of the project,” he said.
“It’s been a huge effort from everyone involved. From the design team to the contractors, the subbies. It marks the next phase of the project now that the building has a resilient structural system.”
The base isolators allow the building to move back and forth, side to side, but less than the shaking earth. They help limit the movement inside the building, helping to preserve the many heritage and important parts of Te Whare Whakarauiki.
Inside the building are low friction sliders, that are like steel dinner plates sitting on top of columns, again allowing the building to move in a safer way during a quake.
And yet another measure that’s been built into the refurbishment is something called a rattle space. This is a space around the base and sides of the building that allows the building to move without it hitting anything, like close buildings or walls.
Now that the foundations have been safely laid, Mr Osborne says the next milestones for the redevelopment of the building will be finishing the roof, and completing the auditorium ground floor, marking the first time the Te Whare Whakarauiki, the Wellington Town Hall has had a complete ground floor in years.
