LynnMall spire deconstruction

Our Auckland Projects & Interiors team was engaged to deconstruct the LynnMall spire, which was built in 1963 when the shopping centre opened. Although it was a local landmark, concerns had been raised about the safety of the structure.

The only information we had about the spire’s construction was gleaned from poring over a photo taken at the time, which showed the three concrete towers being craned in one 36-metre length and held in place while the horizontal ties were cast in situ. Through scanning and crush testing it was determined the column was 35mpa concrete and had minimal vertical reinforcing with no sign of any stirrups – there really wasn’t a lot holding it up.

After three months of planning, including external reviews, we determined that the safest way to remove the spire was to cut it into four sections and crane each section out. Lifting from the top posed a high risk of putting the concrete under unusual loads, potentially causing cracking and the risk of falling debris. We mitigated the risks by placing lifting points at the base of each section to keep the loads consistent, devising a complex rigging setup with multiple pulleys to even the load and horizontal bracing ties high on the rigging chains. Additionally, all three legs had to be cut simultaneously to minimize personnel time on the scaffold and to avoid uneven loads being placed on the remaining structure as we lifted sections out.

All the meticulous planning paid off, with the deconstruction proceeding smoothly over four nights.