| Project
type: Gymnasium / Multicultural
room
Client: Whakatane
Intermediate
Whakatane Intermediate needed a new gymnasium,
but its budget didn’t stretch to the $200,000 to $300,000
for architect’s fees alone that it had been quoted during
the planning process.
The school had SPG funding, however there were
a number of projects included in its strategic plan and questions
over whether the budget would cover everything.
Then the chairperson of the board of trustees,
Roger Angel, visited Tamahere Community Centre in Hamilton, which
had been built by Ahead Buildings. He invited representatives
from the company to the school and Ahead submitted a proposal
for a gymnasium and multicultural room, which was accepted.
“We saved the money from all the consultants
and architectural fees and put it into buildings,” says
principal Doug McLean. “Our dollar went a lot further.”
Ahead began by demolishing an existing administration
building to the sub floor. It then extended it and added a new
administration space over the top of it, which included a dental
clinic for the Bay of Plenty District Health Board.
The next stage was renovating the school hall,
and transforming it into a performing arts auditorium. With the
remaining funding, the school contracted Ahead to build a gymnasium,
named the Doug McLean Gymnasium after the principal. The admin
block is also named after McLean.
Ahead worked with the Rotorua office of the
Ministry of Education during the project, and also worked closely
with the staff of the school. “They listened to what the
teachers wanted and then created what was wanted,” Doug
McLean says. “They had the vision and the conceptual ability
to take on board what we needed. They’re a great crowd to
deal with.”
The gym has a sprung floor, a mezzanine level
and high-impact acoustic ceilings. Ahead’s perforated colour-steel
ceiling system offers a robust alternative to acoustic ceiling
tiles, which can be easily dislodged when pupils kick balls at
the ceiling. Good acoustics in school gymnasiums are essential:
they’re also teaching environments, where the teacher needs
to be heard without the need for amplification.
The gym also includes a multicultural room, built of Douglas Fir
– a durable and sustainable material that requires no maintenance.
The room is now rented out to the local Rotary club, church groups
and for other out of school meetings, bringing in revenue that
pays for power and cleaning.
At the end of the process, the intermediate
was above code for all the buildings, due to Ahead’s competitive
pricing. And although the year-long project meant significant
disruption to the school – including relocating everyone
out of the admin block while the building was going on –
McLean says it was a “pretty painless process”.
The new buildings remain pristine after more
than a year. “Schools take a hammering,” McLean says.
“But the material Ahead Buildings use is very robust. It’s
particularly good for schools. I don’t know why people hadn’t
thought of it before.”
What’s more, there’s been no graffiti or damage of
any sort, which McLean says is an indication of the pride the
pupils take in the new buildings.
- The school rents out its new multicultural room for meetings,
which pays for power and cleaning
- Ahead’s pricing meant the intermediate was above code
for all the new buildings
- The new buildings remain undamaged by vandalism or graffiti
a year after being built
|
home
