Karori Auto has been part of the Karori Community for almost 35 years. In preparation for the future, owner Craig Fair invested in a modern new workshop on Karori Road, replacing the former premises two doors down.

We were engaged to build the new 350m2 workshop, which comprises four working bays plus a mezzanine floor with offices, storage and amenity facilities.

The new building was constructed from block walls and concrete columns with an iron roof. Dead man beams at the end of each column provide seismic strengthening. The buildings’ foundations consist of 39 concrete spiral piles.

The new premises were cut into an existing hill, so the eastern and southern sides of the building were backfilled to provide retention. The street frontage is clad in weatherboard to make it attractive for customers.

As Karori Road is a predominantly residential area, the new workshop incorporates a number of features to mitigate noise. The ceiling features a timber strapping to the underside of the purlins and plywood in the ceiling, while the roof has extra diaphragm for sound proofing. The block walls will also absorb a significant amount of sound.

Other key features include aluminium joinery, four skylights and two garage doors. An epoxy resin coating on the workshop floor provides a pleasant surface to work on. A high stud is needed for the hoist.

The project provided plenty of challenges to keep our team thinking. As the new workshop is located between an existing building and a neighbouring property, access was challenging. Due to the residential location, all works had to be carefully planned to minimise disruption to neighbours.

The large amount of reinforcing contained in the building required precision in construction. Backfilling the eastern and southern sides of the building had to be executed slowly and carefully to ensure it was undertaken safely.

Now complete, the new workshop will be a great asset for the Karori community.