The Ponsonby Community Centre is a busy community facility which is highly utilised throughout the year by various user groups, including the permanent location of Ponsy Kids pre-school.  

The centre was scheduled for renewal under Auckland Council’s Community Facilities renewal programme.  The refurbishment aims to extend the life expectancy of the Centre, ensure it is fit for purpose and provides an attractive and versatile public place that meets the local community’s needs. 

The renewal works include the construction of a new exterior staircase, new balustrades, interior carpentry works, installation of acoustic panels, interior painting halls as well as a full exterior paint. While there have been a number of modifications to the building over time, the building retains its original character and has aesthetic value. A like-for-like colour scheme for the exterior repaint was applied as approved by Council’s Heritage team.

Urban Solutions was engaged to prepare and lodge for building consent, prepare tender documentation, undertake tender evaluation and negotiations, provide construction supervision and manage the low-medium works contract.  

Good communication with the community centre’s manager was paramount to the success of this project.  The works had to be staged and carefully scheduled to enable the centre to be operational at all times.  This meant that any works in the kindergarten area had to be undertaken during the Christmas holiday period when the kindergarten was closed.

Ensuring the health and safety of the centre’s occupants (mainly children) was essential.  Asbestos contaminated material needed to be demolished and removed from site with the appropriate H&S measures in place.