Goodman’s Glassworks Industry Park in Hornby is one of Christchurch’s key industrial estates where Watts & Hughes Construction continues to make its mark as one of New Zealand’s leading providers of quality construction management services.
Its latest project there involved the construction of a 9600m² factory/warehouse building for Goodman Property Trust.
The complex, built between March and November 2017, is being leased to Steel & Tube. It was designed for Goodman by Woodhams Meikle Zhan Architects.
The superstructure is made of steel and precast concrete panels. Having the right construction project methodologies in place ensured that the process of fitting all the building’s substantial 12.5m panels went without a hitch.
“They come in on a flatbed truck on their edge and are then lifted with a 150 tonne crane and dropped into place,” explains Watts & Hughes Construction’s project manager Patrick McCorry.
The steel structure itself was built using a tandem lift system with two cranes deployed to lift sections of roof and portal.
Roofing sections alone measured 30mx30m, incorporating beams, purlins and bracing. The building’s floor is a combi (combined mesh and steel fibre) slab.
This industrial facility also required the construction of a six metre deep looping pit. Building it meant having to excavate an area of 25m², down to eight metres. Formwork was then created and concrete poured onsite.
As well, the Watts & Hughes Construction team were also required to create two other smaller looping pits and a crane pit for the new facility.
“Another part of this project involved the installation of eight gantry cranes that run on overhead tracks the full length of the building.” Noteworthy, too, is the structurally glazed office in the complex, featuring continuous glass wrapping right around the office space.
Watts & Hughes is proud to have installed this beautifully finished space. Watts & Hughes is committed to keeping clients informed at every stage of development and this project was no exception.
“There were weekly meetings (with Goodman and Steel & Tube) and daily email communication.”
Quality assurance was a key priority throughout the project. Watts & Hughes used Conqa, a market leading quality assurance platform designed to make quality assurance simple, accountable and transparent.
As well, it closely monitored the quality assurance practices of contractors working onsite.
Watts & Hughes Construction has an impeccable site safety record, stemming from its comprehensive health and safety policies. Around 40 people at a time worked on the project last year.
Safety audits were conducted fortnightly throughout the construction of the warehouse and factory. Goodman also employed its own independent health and safety advisor from Workplace Safety to regularly check the site.
Sustainable building strategies are another key priority for Watts & Hughes. On this project, the team worked with sustainability focussed company Waste Management to manage its wood and general waste.
This is not the first construction project for Watts & Hughes at Glassworks Industry Park. In fact, the company has successfully completed a number of quality projects there, going back to 2014.
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The steel structure itself was built using a tandem lift system with two cranes deployed to lift sections of roof and portal. The structurally glazed office in the complex, features continuous glass wrapping right around the office space.
