September 30, 2018.
Complex job in $300m Christchurch Precinct for Resco Compact Laminate.
Minimalistic aesthetic attained whilst Resco resilience retained in the Justice and Emergency Services Precinct.
The Precinct, which became operational in October 2017, is the largest multi-agency government co-location project in New Zealand’s history. The 42,000 sq m Christchurch site houses the Ministry of Justice and Christchurch-based judges, NZ Police, Department of Corrections, St John New Zealand, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency.
Architect Nick Warring, who led the team from Warren and Mahoney, Opus, and Cox Architecture, explains the public and staff restroom and ablution facilities in the Precinct were not only required to meet robust performance and design specifications but they had to do so within an already-set budget.
“There was a strong desire that a quality appropriate for a civic building was reflected throughout,” explains Nick, who commends the process of collaborating with Resco, resulting in customised refinements to their product. “There was real value added by Resco in their ability to come to the table. We required a clean aesthetic that did not compromise on durability. We’d happily work with Resco again.”
The job for Resco, the designers, and contractor Fletcher Construction was made more complex with each rest room area being unique, and a project requirement that generous accessibility considerations (for the likes of firecrew or police with uniform equipment) were accounted for.
Resco product specialist Troy Henriques said the company supplied around 89 cubicles, 41 urinal screens and also some shower seats. Recalls Troy, “We worked closely with them to iron out a lot of the design detail which was all non-standard for us. The resulting system improves on the minimalistic design but still offers the robustness and abuse resistance of Resco’s Compact Laminate products.”
Troy highlighted the value in such a large and busy building complex of the standard anti-graffiti and anti-bacterial components within the Resco Compact Laminate surfaces. “Anti-bac and all the flush surfaces translates to really thorough cleaning, quickly. And most graffiti can be simply wiped off our product,” says Troy.
