Media Release

17 August, 2007

Waitakere Central wins structural engineering award

Waitakere Central - the new Civic Centre for Waitakere - has won another prestigious award for innovation and leadership.

The award - for dampening vibrations from the next-door railway - opens up possibilities for more intensive use of land close to railways throughout the country.

The world leading anti-vibration system has won an award of merit at the Innovative New Zealand 2007 Association of Consulting Engineering New Zealand (ACENZ) Awards, for Alan Reay Consultants, structural engineers .

It is the fourth award in quick succession for the environmentally world class building since its opening a year ago.

Others have included two excellence awards at the 2007 Property Council awards and the 2007 Creative New Zealand premier creative places award.

Alan Reay Consultants were faced with ensuring the council building functioned as a comfortable and efficient workplace for 700 fulltime staff, while being located beside an increasingly busy commuter railway line just metres from the site.

So Alan Reay developed what ACENZ describes as “an innovative foundation isolation system for the complex, which is believed to be unique in the world”.

And the unique methods and techniques employed in the building’s design by Alan Reay Consultants resulted in ACENZ labelling Waitakere Central’s creation and design an “outstanding project”.

“The solution centres around piles isolated from the ground and on the ground floor slab by bentonite or polystyrene, depending on the location – subsequent testing revealed the vibration level was well within acceptable levels,” ACENZ says.

“Not only does the building meet the client’s requirements for energy efficiency, but the selection of methods and materials were cost effective.”

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