The Museum is one of Auckland most cherished historic landmarks and maintaining its integrity is a responsibility that demands precision, planning, and the right tools for the job.
As part of ongoing heritage restoration work, the Museum is upgrading the weather shield over its iconic stained-glass ceiling in the Hall of Memories. With Auckland’s famously unpredictable weather, keeping the site dry and safe throughout the project was non-negotiable.
What the Client Needed
- Weather-tight roof without using a crane – A crane couldn’t be used to position the new roof shelter.
- Safe access for glazing replacement – Work needed to be done without stepping on the glass roof.
- Fall protection – A crash deck under the glass roof to protect people and the building in case a panel fell.
Our Solutions
- Rolling SmartRoof
We built a pyramid scaffold on one side of the roof and created 2.57m bay sections that rolled across on the SmartRoof aluminium beam.- The beam was fixed to ledgers with clamps, allowing the whole roof to slide into place.
- This meant no crane was needed, avoiding extra costs and logistics.
- Rolling Working Bay
Below the main roof, we designed a second rolling bay that held a 2.57m-wide hanging scaffold platform.- The team could roll this into position under the shelter to replace glazing safely and in the dry.
- Crash Deck Protection
We built a Proscaf birdcage scaffold over the 12.3m x 12.3m void below the glass.- Cantilever bays from each side met in the middle, joined with tube and couplers.
- The deck was designed to handle up to 3 kN/m².
Engineering Challenges & Smart Design
The roof scaffold sat on a parapet cantilever slab, which couldn’t handle the full load.
Our in-house designer solved this by tying the roof ends together with SmartRoof tension straps every bay.
This reduced horizontal load and kept the structure safe.
Design Services You Can Trust
Our in-house design team works on every complex project from 3D modelling to load calculations ensuring our solutions meet safety standards, site requirements, and heritage restrictions.
