Gisborne Girls High School – Hall Strengthening and Upgrade

Education – 2018

The Gisborne Girls High School hall building required significant seismic work to bring it up to code. The restrengthening of the building also provided an opportunity to refresh the interior of the hall with new toilets, windows, carpet and paintwork throughout.

The existing steel-framed structure had weak beam and column connections so the solution was to open up these connections, exposing the existing steel frame, and then add in a modern steel cross-bracing system between the steel portal frames. Adding to the challenge, DStevens needed to keep the building operational for as long as possible. This meant doing major and intensive structural transformations while also maintaining access for staff and students to the adjacent spaces. We programmed the majority of on-site steel installation to occur during school holidays so as to reduce any disruption to nearby administration and teaching spaces.

Seismic work is always complex, but the ability of DStevens to deliver the project within budget constraints while also making the building safe for the students and staff at Gisborne Girls High School, has made this project a real success.