Client
Auckland War Memorial Museum Trust
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Services
Year Completed
2009
Floor Area
> 11,000m²
Project Value
NZ $65M
Architect
Noel Lane Architects and Peddlethorp
Awards
Supreme Award of the New Zealand Property Council
ACENZ Innovate NZ Gold Award (Structural Engineering)
Holmes Team
Martin Feeney, Keryn Goble
The Auckland War Memorial Museum is one of New Zealand’s iconic heritage buildings. The Grand Atrium project involved the construction of a large suspended bowl structure in an existing open courtyard within the southern part of the original building.
The addition included a large exhibition space, workshop and storage areas, education facilities, a 200 seat auditorium and a spectacular events centre at roof level with panoramic views of Auckland.
By utilizing a wide variety of performance based fire engineering design methods, specifically tailored to the constraints imposed by the building’s configuration and uses, Holmes Fire optimised the performance of the egress routes within the addition, minimized the amount of applied fire proofing needed for the structural steelwork and verified the extensive use of architectural timber lining.
Holmes Fire’s fire engineering services enabled the architect’s original vision for the project to be realized with a minimum of compromise and in a manner that significantly exceeded the client’s expectations.
"People keep talking about an iconic or landmark building we need to build in Auckland, but sometimes we forget that we have got one or two and this project is about adding to one of those buildings in a sympathetic and appropriate way."