Speight’s Brewery, Dunedin

The redevelopment of the Speight’s Brewery in Dunedin was a combination of full seismic strengthening of the seven-storey brick and concrete building dating back to 1876, demolition of the more recent buildings and structures to expose the original brewery, construction of a new brew house and tank farms, and office fitouts.

An important component of the seismic strengthening works involved 200mm thick shotcrete sprayed onto brick walls throughout the entire brewery while it was still operational. The shotcreting standard had to be high enough for a food processing area.

At the same time, additional structural steel columns and drag beams were being installed. Not only did all the components have to get to the right location without upsetting the brewers or interrupting the flow of beer, but the waste from the shotcreting had to be taken back out.

Separate projects included the replacement of the old coal-fired boilers and the installation of a new brewing process plant.

Love Construction, one of the founding companies that formed Naylor Love, built the magnificent brick brew house at Speight’s Brewery in the late 1930’s, and we were pleased to be invited back to help preserve the historic buildings for another generation.