Ridgway School redevelopment

Our Wellington team redeveloped Te Kura o Tawatawa – Ridgway School, starting with the demolition of existing buildings to make way for a two-storey structural steel building with a rib and infill floor system. The new building houses classrooms, technology and food tech teaching spaces, reception, a staffroom and a multi-purpose hall/gymnasium.

We looked for efficiencies from the ground up, including a polystyrene raft slab used to build up voids between foundation beams and timber framed walls modelled using BIM. Having the framing pre-nailed and built off-site minimised waste and reduced the noise and dust on site.

The ‘old’ block, right next door, remained operational throughout the build, housing admin areas and classrooms. We worked closely with the school to avoid disruption, including traffic management and scheduling deliveries around busy times in the drop off/pick up zone at the site entrance.

Another challenge was the exposed site at the top of Brooklyn Hill; extra measures needed to keep materials secure from the wind became business as usual. The hill-top location and a very wet winter also required careful use of controls to manage run-off.

Once the school had moved into their new block, we demolished the last of the old buildings and installed a new playground and landscaping. We enjoyed being part of the school community over our time at Ridgway School, with members of the team interviewed by the students for their newsletter.