CHRISTCHURCH BOYS HIGH SCHOOL

This significant project involved seismic strengthening of the original 1881 building, and the adjoining wings that were over the proceeding years through until 1926. Significant efforts were made by Athfield Architects to survey and detail the historic structure to ensure that the required seismic upgrades would not detract from the heritage features of this building – this was demonstrated by the intricately detailed IFC model which was provided as a starting point for our detailers to model in our steel.

This was not the first project in which Southbase and W&E had collaborated, but it did represent heavier cultural significance than any project tackled in the past. With a strong working relationship developed over a succession of new build and strengthening projects leading up to this point, Southbase were confident that they could rely on our ability to get large steel sections into tight places without damaging heritage elements.

W&E and Lewis Bradford Consulting Engineers worked closely together to ensure that the designed structural steel elements could be installed without damaging or modifying the existing structure. While Lewis Bradford had considered installation restrictions well during their design phase, W&E took the opportunity to include additional splice connections within some of the large frames to further facilitate installation.