NZSki Ltd commissioned Michael Wyatt Architects Ltd to design a redevelopment of the existing building to cater for the future needs of the ski-field. The building needed a better sense of arrival, an expanded deck with an enclosed area underneath where people could be efficiently attended to on arrival. All food functions were to operate from the top level only, and there was a need for a new roof form so that snow build-up against the flashings could be avoided.
The first CHS columns are erected
“It’s the roof that’s so important to the design of the external image of the building and its impact on the internal experience,” says Michael Wyatt. “From the snowfield looking down, the roof resembles a bird in flight. It slopes away from a high point on the deck side in three distinct planes. Inside, the ceiling of the main restaurant is an inverted ‘V’ shape that leads the eye through the windows to the deep eaves and the view beyond. On one side, diners see skiers coming down the slopes; in the opposite direction, they look out over the valley below.”
Structural engineer Peter Johnstone of Connell Wagner Ltd says the roof was designed to withstand very high wind up lifts caused when southerlies slam into the mountain. “Snow lays were also a significant factor; characteristically snow creeps down the gentle roof slope and, with no gutters, it just falls off the back of the building. Because this is not a rectangular structure, we needed a column for all seasons and went tubular, a solution that’s aesthetically pleasing from all vantage points. The diameter of the main columns was only 219mm, but the columns were robust enough to withstand what can sometimes be savage wind loads. A smaller column diameter of 168mm was used for lower loads. A fire rating was not required so they weren’t filled with concrete. Speed of construction was the order of the day. The off-site prefabrication done by Chapman Engineering Ltd was simply magnificent and made a huge contribution to meeting the project deadline.
”The roofing material is Dimond Steelspan. Chapman Engineering fabricated and delivered some 220 tonnes of steel to the site via a flatdeck trailer, hauled by a Northern Southland Transport Ltd that made the overnight journey from Christchurch to Queenstown about 20 times. On site, the erection foreman, Shane Borland, led a team of three. “We’d offload first thing in the morning,” says Shane, “and get cracking. It was busy, fast and quite hectic. Racing against the deteriorating weather, we’d sometimes clock up 100 hours in a week. We came on site two weeks before Christmas 2007 and the official opening took place on 8 June 2008, five months and three weeks later. We finished in the snow with the groomer maintenance building. I remember spending half a day digging the steel out of adrift before we could start erecting.”
A pre-assembled roof frame is lefted into place
The in-company joke started by Shane’s boss, Chris Chapman, was that tourists pay a lot to visit Coronet Peak, and here were Shane and his crew taking in all the great views for free! “I did suggest that, to be fair, they should be paying me back some of their wages for the privilege! Meanwhile, back at Chapman Engineering, this project rapidly became so demanding that the only way to keep it on track was to dedicate all of the time of one project manager in order to stay on top of the programme. It had to be run on a day-to-day basis to cope with the engineering changes, the impact on the drawings, the fabrication and the transport. Half a dozen other projects that we started before Coronet Peak were overtaken.”Acknowledging the very high pressure built up by the aggressive deadline, the Chief Executive Officer of NZSki Ltd, James Coddington, said the main contractor, Arrow International Ltd, “and the sub-contractors have done an exceptional job in delivering the project on time. We can now offer a significantly expanded customer experience in our core departments. There’s even been a lot of interest in our enhanced snowmaking facilities. The payoff is that we expect visitor numbers to increase by at least 20%.”
