Holmes was engaged as the Main Contractor on site at Wairarapa College for the demolition and refurbishment works at Sutherland Block – an iconic and historic building at Wairarapa’s largest school.

This project involves undertaking asbestos removal, seismic strengthening, interior alterations and installing a new lift, stairwell and landscaping works. We maintained a focus on safety and operational continuity for the bustling school campus, ensuring minimal disruption to the schools over 1,100 students and the broader community activities hosted on site. Stringent Health & Safety protocols and oversight are essential to this project, as the college remains operational throughout the project programme. 

From a seismic perspective, the biggest challenge we faced was figuring out how to hold up a brick and concrete façade while we remove the flooring and maintaining the integrity of the roof at the same time. Detailed coordination between the structural engineers, Holmes, and the propping subcontractor was essential for this challenge, to figure out the best sequence of events for these works.

Through collaboration meetings with these consultants, we arrived at a solution to keep the historic building propped up during the works without affecting our buildability in the surrounding areas. In complex seismic projects such as Wairarapa College, flexibility and understanding that modifications to the original sequencing and phasing will be required is crucial to the success of the project.