After 2,292 metres of steelwork reinforcements and 6,573 holes drilled, Thorndon Wellington is now set to formally reopen in November.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Kaikoura was a wake-up call for a lot of Wellington building owners who found themselves having to plan to strengthen their buildings for seismic activity on account of the New Building Standards, which came into effect after the quake. The Thorndon Hotel Wellington by Rydges, however, was already well underway with strengthening work. When Owners Dr HC Tan and Dr Heather Ong of Wellington Hotel Investments bought the property in 2015, they consulted with seismic engineer Tony Synge and got ahead of the New Building Standards.
Six million dollars in total had been invested in the seismic and refurbishment work which has been carried at the hotel for the past two and half years.
Following this, extensive refurbishment of the hotel’s grand floor entrance, reception, food and beverage areas and seismic work were completed in August 2016, but after the quake, the hotel needed to change its plans.
“Despite facing unexpected delays and challenges, the whole team has carried on with remarkable creativity and perseverance, and the end-result today is both structurally resilient and aesthetically pleasing: our kudos and heartfelt thanks to the whole team,” said Dr Tan.
In a bid to future-proof the hotel, Dr Tan and Ong decided to try to get an 80 percent NBS rating, a goal they have now achieved.
“These changes presented challenges to our construction methodology, meaning that more onerous calculation assessments had to be used.”
