St Albans Baptist Church

St Albans Baptist Church Auditorium was extensively damaged in the earthquakes. The building required considerable remedial ground works, including a gravel raft 2.2 metres deep. This also required dewatering, all within the existing building structure.

To enable the machinery to enter the building, we removed 2 of the concrete panels from the exterior walls then re-instated them at the completion of the ground remediation. We then commenced the interior rebuild and fit out, and on completion handed over the building at 100% of the New Building Code.

We really had to think outside the box on this one to enable the client to continue using the existing facilities – including the hire of the meeting rooms adjoining the auditorium. This meant that the church was able to continue receiving income during the refurbishment, and church services were able to continue.

The church elders were very involved from the outset, and we successfully worked in together to keep the congregation informed of the progress through out the project. At various stages, RPC Construction organised a safe path so the Sunday congregation was able to walk through the auditorium, look at what was happening and ask questions. This was enormously successful and appreciated.

The project was delivered on programme.