LDS Temple | Goodwood Heights | Auckland
Scope| Stone Façade Structural Support System Design | Construction Monitoring
Client | European Stone Masons
TEC provided construction monitoring services to CM4 level for the stone facade structural support system of this impressive temple over a two-and-a-half-year period. This involved regular site visits to inspect the steel Hilti channel framing structure, structural fixings to the primary and secondary building structure, stone support brackets and pins, and the Gardenia White Granite stone panels.
Design variations from the original PS1 design were necessary to address as-built primary concrete structures and to accommodate on-site coordination with building services and glazing requirements.
TEC also designed the stone lining for the grand internal staircase and balustrades, ensuring the construction accuracy of the stone facade and structural support system. This was formalised in the issuance of the PS4 package, which included all site visit reports, corrective action registers, CANS, variation design calculations, and QA documentation necessary for the CCC application. The completed temple is a striking landmark, clearly visible from Auckland’s southern motorway.
One Saint Stephens | Parnell | Auckland
Scope| Stone Façade Structural Support System Design | Construction Monitoring
Client | European Stone Masons
This high-end, five-level apartment building is partially clad in stone on an irregular site. TEC provided the structural design of the stone facade support system to support the JURA Limestone stone facade for European Stone Masons, the stone facade contractor. This included structural fixings to the various primary and secondary building elements, steel Hilti channel frames, support brackets and pins, and the stone panels.
High-level design coordination throughout the process involved collaboration with the architect, facade consultant, main building structural engineer, glazing contractor’s designer, other facade design engineers, fire engineer, and the main contractor. Careful design consideration and detailing were required to ensure that the stone facade accommodates lateral building movements under wind and seismic loads due to the relatively flexible steel primary structure.
Design support was provided by TEC during construction for design changes and construction issues, assisting with challenges such as accommodating primary structural movements, including lateral seismic drifts and vertical live loads over large openings. Structural fixings to a range of primary structural elements, including the soffit of a cantilever floor slab with congested reinforcement, were also addressed.
Various Townhouse Developments | Palmerston North
Scope| Structural Design of Superstructure and Foundations | Construction Design Support and Monitoring via local Subconsultant
Client | Houston Architects | Private Developer
These projects involved two-level standalone timber-framed townhouses of standard designs and mirrored layouts. The homes featured steel floor beams over large openings and upper-level cantilevers, plasterboard-lined timber-framed bracing walls, and reinforced concrete slabs and foundations.
Design challenges included managing deflection control and steel detailing for the large upper-level cantilevers, handling the complex arrangement of intersecting steel and timber floor support beams, and resisting high seismic loads due to limited internal bracing walls.
Additionally, variable ground conditions required different foundation solutions, such as RC waffle slab foundations for some sites and traditional ship and pad footings with ground-bearing slabs for others. Building height limits necessitated a shallow roof profile and mid-floor structural depth, requiring careful coordination of plumbing from the upper level to service risers through joists and beams.
Mountain View | Auckland
Scope | Structural Design of Superstructure and Foundations | Construction Monitoring
Client | Dorrington Atcheson Architects | Private Homeowner
This project involved the construction of a single-level bespoke architecturally designed addition and alteration of an existing bungalow on a sloping site in Auckland. The design of the extension features a large open plan living area with a flat roof, high-level windows and large sections of glazing with sliding doors. This required careful consideration of the stiffness of the interconnected roof beams and their support on cantilevering floor beams, which are required to support the new floor as it extends out past a new retaining wall that is integral with the house foundation piles. The roof structure had to consider the roof falls to achieve storm water drainage to down pipes hidden within the structure.
A large deck is separated from the extension to allow a level threshold whilst eliminating water proofing issues. A storage area was incorporated under the house which required low level block retaining foundation walls and an RC slab on grade. The foundation piles had to extend into the ground to improve slope stability whilst providing adequate support for the building. The existing building was altered by the removal of interior walls, installation of new walls and demolition of a small existing section to allow for the new extension.
Whareora House | Whangarei
Scope| Structural Design of Superstructure and Foundations | Construction Monitoring via Site Photography
Client | Dorrington Atcheson Architects | Private Homeowner
This project involved the construction of a single-level bespoke architectural residential building on a remote site in Northland. The design features a butterfly roof with internal gutter, supported by exposed green heart timber beams and posts over the main bedroom and living areas. Timber-framed walls support proprietary timber roof trusses in the other bedroom areas, and the raised timber-framed floor is supported by reinforced block masonry foundation walls and reinforced concrete strip footings.
Additionally, the carport is constructed with reinforced concrete waffle raft foundations, a reinforced block masonry screen wall, and a low-profile roof with timber trusses supported on steel beams and posts. Several design challenges were encountered during this project. The foundation design had to accommodate soft subsoil conditions, with careful layout and allowances to mitigate the risks of differential settlement.
The long-span exotic green heart timber beams required specific engineering design to ensure controlled deflections and adequate capacity. Aesthetic timber connection detailing of the exposed timber beams and posts was crucial to account for the construction sequence and considered detailing reduced thermal bridging between internal and external timber structures. There was also lateral bracing design complexity due to the large openings and expansive interior living areas.
The Foundation VILLAGE | Parnell | Auckland
Scope | Stone Façade Structural Support System Design | Construction Monitoring
Client | European Stone Masons | Colliers | Generus Living
The Foundation Village consists of two five-level luxury retirement apartment buildings, predominantly clad in stone. TEC supported their client, ESM, by providing design assistance during construction to address design changes and construction issues, and collaborated with Generus Living, through Colliers, to offer construction monitoring support, ensuring that the design intent and construction quality were met.
The project faced several design challenges, including accommodating primary structural movements such as lateral seismic drifts and vertical live loads over large openings, as well as securing structural fixings to various primary structural elements. High-level coordination with the architect, facade consultant, main building structural engineer, glazing designer, and main contractor was crucial to streamline project delivery.