The building is 3,726m2 over two levels. The foundation is a concrete raft constructed on a gravel raft with subgrade pads as foundations for shear walls. The subgrade pads were an innovative method of using the weight of the gravel raft to hold down the shear walls. Precast panels and steel form the bulk of the structure. The building envelope consists of precast, glazing, coloured steel panels (in a number of forms) and Titan Panel.
Due to its use as New Zealand Blood Service’s southern headquarters, it is a heavily serviced building. There are multiple lab areas for processing and the packaging of blood, clean rooms with HEPA filters for the processing of Bone Marrow, an irradiation room and cryogenic storage. There are nine freezers ranging from 5o to -40o, along with a large lift shaft, dumb waiter, and intense servicing. The building is fully networked to allow information to be passed between the different work spaces tracked at all times.
The cool down and validation process for the above rooms took 8 weeks, significantly impacting the close out sequence. The building is fully air-conditioned with a BMS system, has solar water heating, fully sprinkled, UPS and generator power backup.
The South Island Blood Centre is an important building nationally for the Blood Service. The product taken and manufactured in the South Island facility will provide blood products to the whole of New Zealand. It has been designed to be able to take the load of the Auckland facility should an event deem this building cannot operate.
It was important that the building was seismically robust, designed and built to an Importance Level 3 standard and could function without the input of mains service (power, water and drainage).
Functionality was a key part of the design brief however it was recognised that being in a prime location architectural merit would also need to be considered. The final design and construction meets the requirements of all these aspects and is a building that owner Ngai Tahu Property are proud to have as part of their portfolio.
The project was completed with minimal defects in 17 months (15 working days prior to the original completion date) and below budget.