The Rolleston Square commercial centre has been developed over a period of 15 years to provide retail and community services to Rolleston as the town and region have rapidly grown.

It now incorporates occupants such as a regional health hub, national retailers, cafes and restaurants, gyms, and even the local MP’s office.

Structex was engaged from day 1 to provide structural and civil engineering services, and architectural detailing support. The structural design has in many areas been to Importance Level 4 for facilities required to be operational immediately post-disaster, and in fact the largest space which was occupied by The Warehouse was subject to a significant aftershock during the opening ceremony. Those stages constructed before the Canterbury earthquakes have remained open throughout the disaster with very little damage to repair and, as a consequence, have been readily re-insured with low excess. A key aspect of the design has also been to have a building envelope allowing flexibility of tenant fitout, and multiple tenancy changes have occurred during the life of the project with relative ease.

Sustainability and attention to design detail has been a core project objective, adding value for the owners and community. Examples of this approach in action include: A structural roof system providing a high level of insulation and eliminating the need for ceilings, a structural grid readily suited to retail space requirements, attention to the support of non-structural elements to limit damage in snow or seismic events, and paved stormwater drainage well filtered before discharge to the soils. We have even re-purposed some redundant concrete elements from the early stages to later buildings and landscape features.

This project received a Silver Award in the Retail Category of the 2020 NZ Commercial Project Awards.

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