Hundertwasser Building Not In Danger Of Collapse

An independent engineering investigation into cracks in the internationally-famous Hundertwasser public toilets at Kawakawa has found the iconic building is not in any danger of imminent collapse.

Concerns were raised recently by maintenance staff that the 13-year-old functioning artwork, designed and supervised during construction by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, was showing increasing signs of cracking and slumping.

Civil and structural consultants Haig Workman have confirmed the building is settling on its foundations and pulling away from structures on either side.

But the company says the resulting cracks that continue to appear are not indicative of major structural failure.

"The cracking in the walls and floor, while unsightly and (in the case of the floor) a possible trip hazard, do not represent a structural failure mechanism for the supporting beams and columns," the consultants say in a report received by the Far North District Council last week.

Cracks to the beams and columns in critical support areas were minor and were "not rotating out-of-plane" which would lead to a catastrophic failure.

"From the survey data, the settlement is not uniform across the whole platform, but nevertheless this does not appear to be affecting the main support structures," the report says.

The consultants have recommended an ongoing monitoring programme and ongoing work to prevent water infiltration under the building.

If the council opted to re-level the building and repair the cracks, two options were available – to inject pressure grouting under the floor or to place new mini-piles on either side of the strip footings.

Pressure grouting was the cheapest long term option, but it should be left until monitoring showed settlement had ceased.

Mini-piling was a better but "very expensive" engineering solution.

A series of earlier engineering reports between 2006 and 2010 placed the cause of the slumping to a range of factors, including silt sub-soils, poorly-compacted fill at one end of the building and the sheer physical weight of the building.

The immediate recommendations will be implemented but the council has still to determine which of the long-term options suggested will be adopted.