Set to officially open next month, the Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre is New Zealand’s largest combined aquatic and indoor recreation facility, measuring more than 30,000 metres squared.
Built by leading contractor, CPB Contractors, the facility required more than 2.9 million construction hours with a workforce of nearly 4,000 people throughout the project.
A major project for the people of Christchurch, Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre will service the community as a world-class, inclusive destination for sports, recreation and leisure, built to ensure durability and performance in the city’s earthquake-prone environment. CPB Contractors delivered a number of innovative engineering solutions to address some of the project’s complex technical and logistical challenges, including the construction of 8,000 stone columns driven 12-metres deep, the largest implementation of its kind in New Zealand, designed and constructed to withstand Christchurch’s earthquake-prone and liquefaction-prone ground.
The safety of workers is prioritised at every stage of the project, with special consideration required when working around large aquatic zones. Drowning and fall hazards were addressed through scaffold edge protection and strict exclusion zones, with the project team developing a unique solution for the installation of the fabric ceiling and skylights above the pools. Designed to drive improved safety and productivity outcomes, CPB Contractors with the assistance of a local specialist scaffold contractor, designed and constructed New Zealand’s largest birdcage scaffold – a 14-metre-high, full-span engineered access platform providing safe, stable elevated work areas over water.
“The high level deck and scaffolding set up allowed one team to safely build all of the surfaces within the ceiling, while another team continued work directly below on the ground and pool area. This solution not only provided significant time and cost savings but also ensured the best safety outcome for everyone working on site and provided additional, contained dry space to operate machinery and tools,” said CPB Contractors Project Manager, Jason Tutty.
“Not only has this initiative delivered optimum outcomes for this project, Acrow Scaffolding are now utilising it on other projects in New Zealand, providing further safety, cost and efficiency benefits.”