Projects
Queensgate Redevelopment
Client
- Stride Property
Project Leads
Sector
Location
- Wellington
In the wake of 2016’s Kaikoura earthquake, Queensgate Shopping Centre owner Stride Property discovered that its cinema car park building was so severely damaged that it had to be demolishedidentified that the Cinema and Carpark building had suffered significant damage and subsequently decided to demolish it. Following At the same time, detailed seismic assessments were completed for of other parts of the Centre, a further four buildings were identified as earthquake-prone.
Stride appointed RCP to manage the demolition of the car park and cinema, assist with the insurance claim and oversee the $95m rebuild. The new car park and cinema were designed to IL3 (a one-in-1,000-year earthquake) and feature a resilient buckling restrained brace design. The new design allowed additional car parks on level two, which were lost as a result of new code changes, and incorporated a new ramp that improved traffic flow.
The primary focus for the project was time. There was a drive to rebuild the cinema and car park, and restore foot traffic and rental income to pre-earthquake levels, as quickly as possible. In the interest of speed, RCP split the project into five parts. Each part was designed, procured and consented separately, and RCP oversaw each. The challenge was tying the whole thing together.
RCP was also retained to oversee the $30m seismic strengthening of the other at-risk buildings, which took place over four years. Complicating the work was the need requirement to manage the interfaces with multiple tenancieswork within a live shopping environment. RCP worked through the scheduling options with Stride and the main contractor to arrive at the best approach to delivering the job while minimising the impact to tenants. Tactics included completing the works at night and moving tenancies around as work progressed.
The work was completed successfully and handed back to Stride, beginning with the car park, which opened in time for the Christmas rush as planned. The cinema was next, progressively followed by the strengthened shopping centre buildings.
Queensgate Shopping Centre is the economic heart of Lower Hutt. It’s a cornerstone of the local community and a regular destination for many people. The project team’s focus was to give the community confidence that the Centre was a safe place to go back to.
“The value that we bought was being able to tie all the pieces together, allowing all the projects to progress together, while minimising the impact to the Centre and its customers and keep the wheels turning.” — Scott Evans
