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When Matakana School returned from the summer break it wasn’t just the start of another year, it was the beginning of a whole new – and much drier – era for teachers, staff and students.
Thanks to extensive weathertightness remediation works that were started in 2023 and completed near the end of last year, the once sodden school no longer has to make do with a leaky hall and damp buildings, which had been a problem for decades.
The works were carried out in two stages, with the Matakana School Board of Trustees managing stage one.
Ministry of Education’s acting national weathertightness team programme manager James Hardy says (stage one) works on blocks 9, 10 and 11 took place between January 2023 and March 2024, and cost about $2 million.
The demolition and rebuild of classroom 3 in block 2 was a ministry-led project that took place between May and November 2024, and cost around $1.3 million, he says.
In total, the weathertightness remediation works cost around $3.3 million.
Project architect Jovi Su says apart from classroom 3 in block 2, which was completely demolished, redesigned and rebuilt, the other three blocks were reclads with similar but more up-to-date cladding materials to fix weathertightness issues.
“Visually, people may not notice too much difference, however there is a lot of unseen work that went into this project to make sure all the buildings are now weathertight for many decades to come,” he says.
“We also upgraded all four buildings to meet modern fire code and Ministry of Education fire requirements so that’s another thing that will ensure the safety of the students and teachers in the event of that sort of emergency.”
Su says the first stage of the project, which involved recladding, was quite challenging.
“The original design of the classroom blocks was quite complex. There were a lot of weird junctions, complex flashings and angled windows, particularly ones with angled bottoms that didn’t comply with the ministry’s standards.
“So we replaced that cladding with similar micro-cement sheet cladding, but updated to modern standards. We kept the layout of the buildings all exactly the same for that first stage, and the exterior walls.”
Decayed timber wall framing, water-damaged ceiling linings, internal linings where damaged, and joinery were also all replaced in blocks 9,10 and 11.
For stage two of the project, Su says they demolished and rebuilt classroom 3 in block 2 because it was very damp and basically unusable.
“You could put a screwdriver through the floor because it was so wet and deteriorated. Because it was a rebuild, we had a blank canvas to work with so it wasn’t quite as challenging as the recladding.”
He says it was incredibly satisfying seeing the kids get back in the classrooms and enjoying the new warm and dry learning environment.
Matakana School principal Darrel Goosen, who has been in the role since 2010, says having the project completed is “a massive deal”.
Musty smells, mould, water stains, leaky windows, leaks coming down the walls, rotten decks and doors, sagging ceilings, dampness, puddles and drips – all of that’s now gone, he says.
“The hall in block 10 was particularly bad. I wanted that done first so that we could decant the students into there. It looks pretty much the same other than we don’t have water leaks everywhere.
“It’s got all new lights, new fire systems, and the ceiling was put back in place. Everything’s pretty much been redone, other than the floor and the stage – it was a heck of a job.”
With both stages of the watertightness project complete, Goosen says they’re finally back to normal.
“In a nutshell, I feel that the school now matches the community that it’s in.”
