Alan MacDiarmid Building up for Engineering Excellence Award
Friday 22 October 2010, 10:02AM
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Victoria University’s new Alan MacDiarmid building is in the running for an award after being the first in New Zealand to use new earthquake strengthening technology.
The building, named for Victoria graduate and Nobel Prize winner, the late Professor Alan MacDiarmid, has been nominated for a New Zealand Engineering Excellence Award in the Building and Construction category.
Wellington based engineering consultancy Dunning Thornton used innovative techniques in construction of the Alan MacDiarmid Building, which is the first multi-storey PRESSS (PRecast Seismic Structural Systems) building in New Zealand.
Precast seismic structural systems use un-bonded post-tensioning to allow controlled rocking of the building’s joints, softening the blow of the earthquake but springing the building back to upright without significant structural damage, even after a major seismic event.
The flexibility of the building, once rocking occurs, significantly reduces the accelerations in the superstructure to almost those of a base isolated building at a fraction of the cost. In a science research building where the fit-out and services may cost more than the building itself, this is a huge advantage.
The successful project is the result of positive collaboration between the engineers, Victoria University and contractors Mainzeal.
Initiated in 2005, the New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are the premier awards for the engineering professionals of New Zealand. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Wellington on November 24.