Lawrence Area School rebuild

We arrived on site at Lawrence Area School with a scope that involved upgrading four buildings by stripping them back to their timber frames, removing asbestos, re-cladding and resolving weathertightness issues. Once we started work, we discovered extensive deterioration in the timber frame and considerable structural issues.

It was decided that three of the four buildings needed to be demolished to floor level and rebuilt on the original concrete ring foundations, strengthened with ground beams. A roof redesign offered the opportunity add a warm roof offering improved weathertightness and less ongoing maintenance. We kept busy during the three-month wait for the new design, resolving the structural issues with the sub-floor and working collaboratively with the project team on a revised methodology.

As Covid-related supply chain issues really started to bite, we decided to use our carpentry team to build the timber frames off-site, with the engineered roof trusses delivered by a pre-nail supplier. This both expedited the build and gave our apprentices a rare opportunity to build their own frames.

With the site over an hour’s drive from Dunedin, we opted to reduce travel and improve work-life balance for our site team by staying locally, working longer days to enable everyone to get home for a long weekend. We enjoyed becoming part of the school community during our two years on site, running a safety poster competition in the junior school, installing custom hoardings, organising careers talks and site tours for the senior school, and inviting all 200 staff and students to an end-of-term BBQ and game of basketball.

The school now features eight classrooms, a library, administration and office spaces and a staffroom arranged in a more modern inter-connected layout.