Wellington Town Hall Auditorium Ceiling Restoration New Zealand 2024
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Scope of Contracting WorksSalvage of original pressed metal ceilings, repair & restoration work. New dies made for 2 pressed metal designs
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Project Duration2020-2024
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ClientNaylor Love
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Project LocationWellington New Zealand
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Project DescriptionAUDITORIUM STAGE 1. Demolition of the pressed metal ceiling under the dress circle with panels salvaged for future reinstalment. Repair & restoration of pressed metal Auditorium ceiling. The Wellington Town Hall is a Category 1 historic place on New Zealand's heritage list. The heritage architect report required authentic & sympathetic restoration of the original pressed metal ceiling in the Auditorium, circa 1904. National Pressed metal was the nominated contractor due to their expertise & extensive experience working on large scale restoration projects. Major restoration and repair works were carried out by National Pressed Metal and the teams from Melbourne Pressed Metal, Adelaide Pressed Metal & Stamp Pressed Metal for the Australian Pressed Metal Group on the Wellington Town Hall Auditorium ceiling in Wellington New Zealand. Works started in early 2020 & due to the pandemic stage 1 was completed in September 2024. Through this time National Pressed Metal worked closely with the builder & heritage architect to keep progress moving ahead through the challenges of lock downs, material shortages, flight restrictions & timeline extensions. The highly experienced National Pressed Metal teams were contracted to restore & repair the pressed metal ceiling to original condition, working closely with heritage architects & builder Naylor Love. A section of the original pressed metal ceiling in the Auditorium was carefully removed to give crane access for work on the seismic structural steel beams to be installed, asbestos removal & fire sprinkler system installation. Construction of a trapeze trampoline scaffold (wall hung only) for ceiling works, was installed allowing the original pressed metal panels to be meticulously unpicked & carefully reinstalled once repairs & restoration work was completed, for a seamless finish done to perfection. Deterioration of the original ceiling panels, damage & inferior patching & repair works over the previous century required a team with expertise, skill & knowledge of the pressed metal elements & their installation. Two new dies were created - Botanica & Bodkin, as the designs were not in production. These designs were pressed in premium O Grade aluminium to the original imperial measurements & fit in seamlessly where repairs & replacement panels were required. The original Celtic beams that followed the curve of the ceiling had been damaged & portions removed over the years for lighting & anchor points for speaker trusses. New unobtrusive anchor points were designed off the wall. The Celtic beams were reproduced from soft zinc to be malleable & curvable then carefully repaired & replaced in damaged areas. Fire services were updated with sprinkler head systems installed to bring the building up to code. The position of the sprinkler heads were mathematically calculated to be aesthetically pleasing & unobtrusive with penetrations placed in the Celtic Beams. Original pressed metal roses were repaired & restored & the original vents were replaced using the Victorian Vent Perforated panel with the perforations hand punched.
