The Hukanui Hall

On the 16th of December 2023 Hukanui in collaboration with Octa, the Ministry Weather Tightness Team and the Ministry of Education proceeded with the demolition of the School Hall. This came about after many years of issues related to a failed cladding product which has created water leakage- water tightness issues. Things deteriorated so much over recent years to a point where we had to patch the floor, remove wall linings, reinforce sections, re-clad and address water flowing into the building. In the end the Ministry Weather Tightness team decided that repairing the Hall was no longer a financially viable issue, no longer fit for public use and that we would have to look at a demolition and rebuild option.

As you can appreciate this has significant connotations for Hukanui and the likelihood is that we will see works commence to a new Hall in July of 2024 and then hope to have a construction completed in January of 2025. Again this is dependent on many factors and we will continue to update you as information comes to hand.

The challenges for Hukanui in the short term including; securing additional Ministry funding (a new build will cost between $3.5-5.5 million), utilisation of school reserves, lack of available teaching spaces during term time, potential roll growth and the usual frustrations associated with large scale building works.

At this point in time we are currently reviewing draft plans designed by Peddlethorp, trying to address issues with alarm systems created by the demo and working hard to get a finalised price in regards to the total rebuild. Fun times indeed!

We do have to acknowledge the Board, Octa and the Waikato Ministry of Education Property team who have battled over the past 4 years to get us to this point. We are very mindful that many schools are in similar positions and have not been as fortunate as Hukanui in regards to finding a way forward. We are additionally aware that in a climate where the Ministry office have been asked to cut spending, that our needs are still being addressed. Particular acknowledgement must be given to Gary Anaru, Peter Hannam, Sofia Wright, Grant Gaudlin and Steve Faull.

C Block

On the January the 8th we initiated works to Rooms 19-22 and the old toilet block. This is a school funded project and will see a total refurbishment of all rooms, asbestos removed, new lighting, the introduction of withdrawal spaces and better windows, ventilation and classroom configuration. At the same time works will see new seating area, gardens planters and turf works completed. As you can see from the design images below, we have a lot to look forward to.

I do have to apologise for the scaffolding, building wrap and lack of walk space in the short term. That said, the short term pain and frustration will quickly be forgotten when we posses our new spaces, refurbished toilet blocks and new terraces which will increase indoor outdoor flow.

Newsletter Issue 1, Term 1 2024

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