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29 November 2024
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Fire stations of the world: Sumner Fire Station, Christchurch, New Zealand
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The Sumner Fire Station was badly damaged during the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. It was replaced and opened together with the flagship Christchurch City Fire Station as part of a $78 million redevelopment of stations in greater Christchurch, by Fire and Emergency New Zealand. Sumner Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Daryl Sayer said they took possession of the $3 million facility in May 2023. "Everyone's been so excited. The crew's been really keen to get in and we've are now into our second week of being in the station and everyone's smiling, they're really loving being here".
The new purpose-built facility houses a fire truck and 4WD support vehicle, a hard stand to take the weight of a fire truck, decontamination facilities, a dedicated locker room, workshop areas, laundry and office and storage spaces.
Chief Sayer has welcomed the upgrades and pointed out the area the brigade covers is a lot more diverse than the metropolitan zones. "We do have a lot more hill areas, of course, we've got walking tracks and people like to head out here in the weekend and go for a walk or bike or whatever. And a lot of our calls are actually retrieving people from those tracks".
The new Sumner Fire Station is a completely new building, replacing the original facility that was extensively damaged in the earthquakes. Fire and Emergency bought land next door to the original site, to enable a larger station to be built, serving the needs of the Sumner community. The Sumner Volunteer Fire Brigade moved into temporary quarters while their former station was demolished and the new two-bay station was built. $2.9 million of the total $4.52 million cost was met by the COVID Response and Recovery Fund.
The experienced Cook Brothers Canterbury team were engaged by Fire and Emergency NZ to deliver the modern IL4 standard station. After demolishing the original station, the land was remediated to allow the construction of the new purpose-built station.
Working on the tight site required thorough planning and leadership from the Cook Brothers Team to ensure smooth communication between Trade Partners. Coordination was essential with elements such as the hardstand slab pours posing potential challenges around access to the building for other trades. Innovations around procurement were engaged, such as using LMA timber as a cladding instead of Cedar, which was in short supply, allowed the project to be delivered on time and within budget.
Sources: Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Cook Brothers Construction
The new purpose-built facility houses a fire truck and 4WD support vehicle, a hard stand to take the weight of a fire truck, decontamination facilities, a dedicated locker room, workshop areas, laundry and office and storage spaces.
Chief Sayer has welcomed the upgrades and pointed out the area the brigade covers is a lot more diverse than the metropolitan zones. "We do have a lot more hill areas, of course, we've got walking tracks and people like to head out here in the weekend and go for a walk or bike or whatever. And a lot of our calls are actually retrieving people from those tracks".
The new Sumner Fire Station is a completely new building, replacing the original facility that was extensively damaged in the earthquakes. Fire and Emergency bought land next door to the original site, to enable a larger station to be built, serving the needs of the Sumner community. The Sumner Volunteer Fire Brigade moved into temporary quarters while their former station was demolished and the new two-bay station was built. $2.9 million of the total $4.52 million cost was met by the COVID Response and Recovery Fund.
The experienced Cook Brothers Canterbury team were engaged by Fire and Emergency NZ to deliver the modern IL4 standard station. After demolishing the original station, the land was remediated to allow the construction of the new purpose-built station.
Working on the tight site required thorough planning and leadership from the Cook Brothers Team to ensure smooth communication between Trade Partners. Coordination was essential with elements such as the hardstand slab pours posing potential challenges around access to the building for other trades. Innovations around procurement were engaged, such as using LMA timber as a cladding instead of Cedar, which was in short supply, allowed the project to be delivered on time and within budget.
Sources: Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Cook Brothers Construction
