IBM Petone  |  Willis Central
Hutt Valley Health Ltd  |  Nam Cheong Mass Transit Station, Hong Kong
Nelson Polytechnic Learning Centre  |  Oriental Bay Apartments
Hypermarket Oman  |  Abel Tasman Apartments
Nelson Information Centre  |  Seatoun School
The last 25 years

Hutt Valley Health Ltd - Accident Emergency and Theatre Block

Designed in conjunction with Bulleyment Fortune Architects and opened in March 1997, the building replaces theatres built during World War 2. It provides a fully integrated Accident and Emergency Facility on the ground floor together with a four-theatre complex on the first floor.

It is the first base-isolated hospital building constructed in New Zealand and sits on 36 lead rubber bearings arranged in a symmetrical pattern over the plan area. A separation gap of 350mm is provided around the perimeter to isolate the building from the surrounding ground. The bearings are fixed to a sub foundation, which is in turn supported by driven concrete piles extending 10 metres into the underlying gravel layers.

This method of seismic protection not only gives a higher level of protection to the building structure, but valuable contents housed within are afforded greater protection from damage from moderate or severe earthquakes due to reduced inter-storey deflections.