Innovative new building set to open

The new ACC Rotorua building while under construction.

Rotorua developer Ray Cook of R&B Consultants has used wood as the key structural component for new premises he has been constructing for the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Mr Cook said utilising wood as the primary construction material supported the Rotorua Lakes Council's Wood First policy, a recent council initiative aimed at encouraging more use of New Zealand timber and wood products.

Throughout the ACC building's construction Mr Cook has employed innovative timber technology involving laminated veneer lumber and cross-laminated timber panels made from New Zealand pine.

The cross-laminated timber panels are large tilt slabs made from wood, rather than the more traditional concrete.

"The slabs are computer-machined to create components such as floor sections, doorways and windows," Mr Cook said.

He said while the combined use of cross-laminated timber and laminated veneer lumber was relatively new to New Zealand he could see the technology also being used in the residential building market at some point in the future.

Much of the timber used inside the new ACC building has been left exposed as part of the building's interior finish.

Grow Rotorua chief executive Francis Pauwels said Mr Cook should be congratulated for the leadership he and his company were demonstrating to showcase New Zealand timber for commercial building construction.

"There's been a lot of interest from other central government agencies and from other organisations who have major building projects on their horizons.

"Ray gave mayor [Steve] Chadwick and a number of local government, iwi and business leaders a sneak preview of the building on Monday night and they were very impressed with the innovative use of wood throughout.

"I'm sure we're going to see more commercial building construction using timber as a main structural component in the future. And with the forestry resource we have on our doorstep that's got to be good for our local economy here in Rotorua," Mr Pauwels said.

ACC Rotorua is due to move into the new building shortly, ahead of the premises' formal opening later this month.