Complex Weathertightness Remediation and Refurbishment of Grey Lynn Apartment Building

This weathertightness remediation and refurbishment project involved a 60-unit apartment building in Grey Lynn, Auckland, originally constructed in the early 1990s. Following a detailed building investigation completed in 2017, widespread weathertightness issues and building defects were identified, requiring a comprehensive and carefully coordinated response. Our multidisciplinary team delivered integrated architectural, quantity surveying, and building surveying services, bringing together specialist expertise in existing buildings to develop a practical and effective refurbishment strategy.

The complexity of working within an occupied multi-unit residential building required a staged and highly considered approach. Early collaboration between our architectural and quantity surveying teams enabled the development of detailed design documentation that supported early contractor involvement, allowing buildability, sequencing, and construction methodology to be tested and refined before work commenced on site. The refurbishment was delivered across four stages, ensuring parts of the building could remain occupied throughout construction, while also enabling efficiencies to be gained as lessons from earlier stages informed later phases.

Given the nature of refurbishment and remediation projects, there was an inherent level of uncertainty, with the full extent of defects only becoming clear as construction progressed. This required ongoing design refinement and active cost management, with our quantity surveying team providing continuous value engineering to maintain control over project costs. Our building surveying team remained closely involved throughout construction, delivering quality assurance services to ensure remediation works met performance expectations and addressed the underlying weathertightness issues effectively.

Additional challenges included the extent of passive fire remediation required to meet current Building Code standards, along with construction delays resulting from COVID-related disruptions. Despite these complexities, the collaborative and adaptive approach adopted across the project ensured it remained on track and responsive to emerging conditions.

The completed refurbishment has transformed what was once a defective and ageing apartment building into a compliant, future-ready asset. Critical weathertightness issues have been resolved, passive fire performance has been upgraded, and the building now meets current Code requirements. The result is a significantly improved residential building that offers greater durability, safety, and long-term performance for its occupants.