A life-saving build.

Alpha Interiors Group – one of the country’s largest commercial interior fit out companies – has played a key role in  some incredibly diverse projects, from Britomart Railway Station and the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, to the Sofitel Wellington and Redbull’s Auckland HQ. But quite probably none have been as rewarding as the work they are currently undertaking at Wellington’s new Children’s Hospital.

Scheduled to open next year, the three-storey hospital will feature 50 beds and 21 clinical rooms and will offer state-ofthe-art care for the region’s young people. Made possible thanks to a $50 million donation from philanthropist Mark Dunajtschik, the new facility is being built on the grounds of the current Wellington Hospital in Newton and will connect via a link bridge to the main hospital.

“The new Children’s Hospital will be world class, ensuring brighter, healthier futures for generations of children to come,” says Alpha Interiors Wellington General Manager Donovan Hobbs.

Already, the Club GIB® Installer and AWCI member has gone through over 7000 sheets of GIB® plasterboard, 50,000 GIB® screws and 1400 tubes of glue on the job – plus they’ve had to navigate a whole host of challenges.

“Hospitals are very complicated builds, the sheer number of services required to be coordinated within the build is enormous. Not to mention this building is Importance Level 4, so seismic implications on all aspects of the build have been very intensive.”

But Donovan says there have been plenty of highlights too.

“There has been a massive amount of collaboration between the design team, main contractors and subcontractors.”

“It is essential that designers and contractors have the right information to make the best decisions about specification and installation to ensure these buildings are well designedto perform now and into the future,” says Dennise Austin, Architectural Specification Manager at Winstone Wallboards.

GIB® systems from our Noise Control Systems and Fire- Rated Systems literature that were particularly appropriate for healthcare and hospitals are available in the GIB® Healthcare Design Guide detailing design considerations such as acoustics in hospital environments, impact, crash rails and overlays, and surface abrasion resistance.

Additionally, as the requirements and expectations of healthcare facilities changed, we found there were opportunities to develop new systems that would be particularly suited to environments that may require a range of responses for mould resistance (high hygiene), impact resistance (gurneys in corridors) and noise resistance (for privacy and rest).

View further information on the GIB® Healthcare Design Guide or call the GIB® Helpline on 0800 100 442.