Construction reaches halfway point

June was a month of milestones for the New Dunedin Hospital Outpatient Building.

Two years after driving the first of 78 piles, the main structure of the new building is complete.

The building is classified as Importance Level 3, which means it is designed to withstand a one in a thousand-year seismic event.  The structure incorporates shock absorbers and uses flexible materials to reduce damage and ensure the building remains standing during an earthquake.

“The primary steel structure and main concrete pours have been completed, so now the façade, fitout and service trades can progress with their works onsite,” says Anthony Franicevic, Senior Project Manager of Southbase Construction.

This month we have reached a milestone where the south eastern corner of the building façade has started to be installed and our teams are working towards more visual progress over the coming month.

Over the coming weeks you’ll see the recyclable plastic wrap covering the structure being removed so passers-by will get a view of the work underway. “The big milestone we’re aiming for next year is making the building watertight and weathertight.”

Once the facade and roof are on the exterior of the building it will appear to be in its finished state, but there will still be lots of work to do inside. A modern hospital building has many services behind the walls,such as medical gases, suction, ventilation, nurse call systems and pneumatic tubes.

Completion of the building is planned for mid 2026, but the work doesn’t stop there – commissioning the building for opening requires a lot of testing and training by clinical staff to make sure the facility can operate effectively and safely. “Southbase are committed to working with Health New Zealand to ensure the facility is successfully completed and ready for public use.”