Knoll Ridge Cafe, Whakapapa

Awards Received:

NATIONAL WINNER, RMB 2011 Commercial Project Awards 'Tourism & Leisure Project' Category.

GOLD RESERVE Finalist, RMB 2011 Commercial Project Awards 'Tourism & Leisure Project' Category

2011 SUPREME AWARD - Waikato RMB 2011 Commercial Project of the Year.

CATEGORY Winner - Waikato RMB 2011 'Tourism & Leisure' Project

LIFE MEMBER AWARD - Waikato RMB 2011 'Construction Excellence in workmanship, creativity and innovation' 

Excellence at Altitude 

Sitting innocently above the clouds on the slopes of Whakapapa, the Café is now part of New Zealand’s prime heritage, but this was yet another tough project the Stanley team has conquered.  It called for extraordinary dedication and demands on the entire team to make it happen within the tight timeframe.

Located 2000m above sea level, the construction process in this harsh remote environment called for a different approach.  More than $1m was saved by adopting clever building solutions including using alternative machines for the erection process as there is no crane access, transporting 400 m² of precast units up over the snow and using the helicopter as a crane and delivery method.  

The weather on Ruapehu is notoriously unpredictable so extensive planning and logistical programming was required as the windows of opportunity to fly helicopter loads were limited and very costly. 

Stanley's precast 90% of the concrete structure offsite in Matamata, along with as many building components as possible. This minimised disruption to the skifield and mitigated environmental risk – an important factor when building in a World Heritage Park. Glass was procured off shore, passing on significant cost savings to the client.

The Stanley team cannot speak highly enough of both Grant Harris from HB Architecture and Engineer Alistair Cattanach from Dunning Thornton.  Both played a huge part in the project and were focused on solutions that met all parties objectives. With a project of this calibre it was a fine balancing act between engineering solutions, that complemented the design element, but also sat within the tight budget.   

Project Manager Craig Davison stated that the projects success is a direct reflection of both Grant and Alistair’s dedication  

“With everything being done in such a tight timeframe it was pertinent that all parties gave it priority and both Grant and Alistair’s contribution through the whole project was huge.  We were so fortunate to have an engineer like Alistair whose experience could often provide three structural solutions to any one problem and then Grant who would work closely with all parties to ensure that the agreed solution would work whilst fitting in with his ultimate design”.

By adopting some clever solutions, there was significant time and monetary savings as well as the benefit of the cafe opening for the second half of the ski season as planned.