Building
At conception of the project Phil Checketts from AdMore Designs was selected to design the building, run the tender process and project manage from conception to completion. Phil was given the brief to provide a cost effective building to build, with as many shared spaces as possible but to make it look appealing to children from the outside. He took his inspiration from the Tuperware shapes toy and ended up with a rectangle building (cheap to build), lots of shared spaces (again cheaper), but a very bright, appealing building from the front.
The site that was allocated from the Gore District Council is a great location, it certainly didn’t come without its challenges – one of which is a large swale at the start of the land which we couldn’t get around without some major earthworks and $’s being spent, the best and cheapest way around this was to put it as close to the fence line at the other end of the property as possible and put a driveway up to it. The 2nd challenge was that we wanted everyone to be able to see it, but after lots of consultation it was decided to place it exactly where it is, driving into the back of the building (which again is plain, to save money) and have the front facing north so we could maximize sunshine and minimise electricity usage for heating.
Other things that were considered were the tanks, we were lucky to get a grant from the Fonterra Environmental Fund that helped pay for tanks so we could supply our own water – with a roof our size it seemed a shame to waste that amount of rainwater and as a bonus this was cheaper than the alternative of having to upgrade pipes right out to Wayland street as they are almost at capacity already.
We were very definite in our desire to use as many local trades where ever possible and after the tender process was completed, Shane Knapp Building Ltd from Gore won the contract. Shane and his team, working alongside Croydon Contracting broke ground on March 11 2015.
As you can imagine many different challenges came along during the 10 months of construction, each of them easily fixed when you live by the mantra of ‘it’s a public building, built for the public with public money, so the best possible standard for the best possible price needs to always be achieved’
Both Phil Checketts as Project Manager and Shane Knapp as contractor have done an amazing job, completing a building of the size of the Kids Hub whilst staying on schedule and budget was always going to be a huge ask but they delivered just that.
The site that was allocated from the Gore District Council is a great location, it certainly didn’t come without its challenges – one of which is a large swale at the start of the land which we couldn’t get around without some major earthworks and $’s being spent, the best and cheapest way around this was to put it as close to the fence line at the other end of the property as possible and put a driveway up to it. The 2nd challenge was that we wanted everyone to be able to see it, but after lots of consultation it was decided to place it exactly where it is, driving into the back of the building (which again is plain, to save money) and have the front facing north so we could maximize sunshine and minimise electricity usage for heating.
Other things that were considered were the tanks, we were lucky to get a grant from the Fonterra Environmental Fund that helped pay for tanks so we could supply our own water – with a roof our size it seemed a shame to waste that amount of rainwater and as a bonus this was cheaper than the alternative of having to upgrade pipes right out to Wayland street as they are almost at capacity already.
We were very definite in our desire to use as many local trades where ever possible and after the tender process was completed, Shane Knapp Building Ltd from Gore won the contract. Shane and his team, working alongside Croydon Contracting broke ground on March 11 2015.
As you can imagine many different challenges came along during the 10 months of construction, each of them easily fixed when you live by the mantra of ‘it’s a public building, built for the public with public money, so the best possible standard for the best possible price needs to always be achieved’
Both Phil Checketts as Project Manager and Shane Knapp as contractor have done an amazing job, completing a building of the size of the Kids Hub whilst staying on schedule and budget was always going to be a huge ask but they delivered just that.
