Wellington Site – Earthquake Strengthening
At midnight on 14 December 2016, a massive earthquake struck along the coast between Kaikoura and Wellington. For many of us it was the scariest natural event we had ever witnessed. While striking at midnight meant we were all fast asleep and awoke with the biggest fright ever, it also meant that nobody was inside the many buildings that were damaged and later demolished.
We were very fortunate that the Wellington laboratory site did not suffer any damage but the event highlighted the need for our building to undergo earthquake strengthening to ensure against future earthquakes.
At the time of the earthquake we were planning a major rebuild and this has been delayed until 2019 while the strengthening plans were developed. This has taken 18 months of planning but in April the work finally began.
Several areas of the laboratory have had to be isolated while new concrete walls are built and filled with concrete (shown in the picture below), while other areas of the laboratory are being extended. A new entrance and reception space, new offices and meeting rooms and a third story lunchroom are all being built. A fresh coat of paint is also in the plans.
Once completed, the laboratory and office space will be larger and the building safer. The new laboratory spaces will be used to house the growing suite of instruments that we have been investing in. New equipment includes robotic analysers for BOD, pH, turbidity, conductivity and titrations as well as new analytical instruments such as new Ion Chromatography units, ICPMS and LCMS/GCMS.
While we feel that we are sometimes working in the middle of a construction zone, the work is not compromising the integrity of your samples and we are looking forward to working in a larger safer environment. The laboratory will once again be a world leading facility offering our customers a state of the art facility while at the same time offering our staff the best views in the Wellington region.
