The Chinese Methodist Church in Merivale suffered irreparable damage during the devastating Christchurch earthquakes. Originally built in 1894, the structure was demolished in August 2013.
The Chinese Methodist Church was completely rebuilt throughout 2014/15. The roof structure consists of four large glulam rafter beams, with a steel tension rod running underneath, and glulam purlins connecting these. There were also extensive areas of feature vertical fins, providing detail to internal and external cladding.
The Techlam team worked closely with the engineer and construction company to optimise supply of the glulam package. Due to the size of the rafter beams, extensive pre-cutting and rebating was done in the factory to speed installation on site. Other details included epoxy fitting of the steel struts supporting the tension rods. All the vertical fins were supplied pre-cut, with pocket slots ready to accept internal brackets.
All components arrived on site on time, and fitted together as intended, saving the contractors hours of time and effort on site.
Location: Merivale, Christchurch
Client: Chinese Methodist Church
Architect: Opus Architecture
Structural Engineer: Opus
Builder: Hann Construction
Products Used: Glulam external timber fins, prefabricated glulam bowstring trusses and purlins