Seismic strengthening for Napier Health Centre is also being undertaken.

Two important Napier buildings are getting an upgrade due to new earthquake building regulations, with one being completely demolished and rebuilt.

Napier’s old Civic Building has entered the demolition phase after months of dismantling and disposal, said Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise.

Excavators will be a common sight over the next few months, as the demolition team take the building down, working from top to bottom, with work due to be completed by March next year.

“The Civic Building has been part of our cityscape for many decades. It served Napier well in its time, but due to modern earthquake building regulations, it is no longer fit for purpose.”

“Developing the new space is a rare opportunity for us to design a collective expression of our community’s aspirations.”

The new building’s designs will be shared with the community in due course, but would celebrate the city’s cultural values and unique history.

“It will be a place for everyone,” Wise said.

Much of the new building would be recycled from the old one, about 80-90%, and would meet Green Building Council standards to achieve a Green Star 5 rating, a measure of excellence in healthy and sustainable building.

For the new building to achieve ‘five stars’, the demolition of what previously stood there must be taken into account.

Between the end of demolition and beginning of construction in mid-2024, the site will be secured.

Napier Health Centre strengthening

Construction work is due to start soon at Napier Health Centre to upgrade the seismic strength of the building and is expected to take about 16 months or longer.

Public health agency Te Whatu Ora has agreed to do the work as part of re-signing the lease agreement with the building owner, Hawke’s Bay interim district director Andrew Boyd said.

“Napier Health Centre is not earthquake-prone. It continues to be a safe building to work in and visit. Te Whatu Ora and the building owner are undertaking this work to further strengthen the building to meet the new building code standards set following the Christchurch earthquakes.” 

Boyd said construction work will mainly take place on the first floor, with demolition starting in early December. The ground floor is largely unaffected, but will have minimal out of hours work. Work will be staged to minimise the impact on staff, visitors and the delivery of health services to patients. 

Patients would still have access to City Medical, the laboratory, pharmacy, specialist clinical appointments, Mental Health and Addictions and Child Adolescent and Family Services.

“I want to reassure people it is safe to continue to access health services at Napier Health Centre,” he said.

Work teams would be shuffled around during the strengthening process to accommodate the work, and some non-patient facing teams will temporarily work from Te Whatu Ora’s Hastings premises during construction.

A more permanent office-based Napier community health hub location is also being explored, to minimise disruption, Boyd said.

“With the health reform in full swing, we are looking at what we can do differently here in Hawke’s Bay to improve and bring health services closer to communities.

“The long-term planning means that spaces left vacant by teams at Napier Health will be repurposed into patient-facing health services in the future. What this will look like is yet to be determined as it will be informed by stakeholder and community engagement with a strong equity focus around delivering a smarter health system that is people-powered and closer to home, for all,” he said.

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