Watts & Hughes were engaged as the main contractor to complete the construction of the new  760m2, 2 storey Riccarton Community Centre.

The centre itself consisted of 5 activity rooms which differentiate in sizes, a main hall that can open up to an outdoor decking to cater for bigger functions, council customer service areas and a meeting hall which can hold 150-200 people at a time. It is also equipped with a kitchen for general food preparation and heating and toilet facilities. The Customer Service Reception shares the space with New Zealand Post which makes it more convenient for the general public.

The facility has been designed with the roof as a lightweight steel structure, supported by precast concrete walls, with photovoltaic panels. The level one floor is a mix of precast concrete Hollowcore and Flatslab with 100mm thick topping concrete, which is supported by the precast concrete walls and discrete areas of structural steel. The ground floor is a 150mm thick reinforced concrete slab on grade and the walls are supported by concrete foundation beams linked together and bear on a 1.2m thick geogrid reinforced raft. The building has two sets of stairs and a lift to provide access to the upper level. The featured panels on the exterior and the Techlam post are to signify the Riccarton Bush area. The structure of the building and Techlam were all installed via crane.

The external and civil works included the construction of a carpark with 26 parking spaces (including 2 accessible spaces), a fenced-off outdoor space, a fenced compound for the external HVAC units, bespoke macrocarpa timber bike stands, timber decking and landscaping. The landscape planting arrangement includes species that are low understorey planting, with higher canopy trees as well.

The building has accessible/handicap amenities such as designated mobility parking space, ramp, lift, hearing loop (in Main Hall) and toilets.

The interior of the building is a combination of timber ply and precast. Feature walls and ceilings of ply are installed throughout the building. The main hall is a bamboo timber floor and Decortech ceiling panels.

The Project had a tight timeline, where the council required the building to be open before the Christmas break. Watts & Hughes successfully achieved this target date, with the council and it’s end users (the local Riccarton community) all having access too the community centre over the holiday period.