Date: 13 April 2004
The three-level home was built on a series of terraces down a steep slope to take advantage of sensational views over the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland's boating playground.
To provide privacy and shelter from prevailing south-westerly winds, ballustrading some 2800mm high and capable of withstanding high wind loadings was required.
National contracts manager Greg Yim calculated that the job needed a 'sandwich' of two sheets of 19mm Pilkington Decorapan frosted interleaved with 1.88mm of resin to stand up to the tough wind conditions.
"The glass was to be cantilevered off the side of the terraces with fixing bolts requiring several holes in the multi-laminate panels," Greg explained.
"Laser-positioned drills were used to ensure sheet-to-sheet accuracy and the components were polished on a Bavelloni Alpa machine to ensure that each panel of the laminate was identical. After toughening, the panels went to the cast-in-place (CIP) laminating plant where they were taped up and filled with resin. As these were the heaviest panels ever laminated at Gabador Place, Auckland, some modifications to the equipment were required.
On site, contractors Sail City Glass faced more challenges. The only access to the site was the driveway of the house next door - and that was on the far side of the house. A small, low-trayed truck positioned the panels for lifting in purpose-built slings by a special crane-the lift was over the neighbouring house and several trees. The crane could move the panels millimeters at a time to position them on the attachment bolts and, happily, winds were almost non-existent during the three-day fit-out.
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