Rāwhiti School

The overarching objective was to complete most of the roofing works during the 2025/26 Christmas school holiday period, minimising disruption to students, staff and the day-to-day operation of the school.

This required close coordination between the school staff, Armitage Williams Construction, Wayman Roofing Services, and Kingspan to secure labour and materials during a period that coincides with the traditional industry shutdown. A further challenge was the uncertainty surrounding the removal of the existing roof. Until the works commenced, the condition and construction of the existing roof meant that the rate of removal - and therefore the achievable daily production - could not be accurately established.

In response, the construction programme was developed around a staged approach. In consultation with Armitage Williams Construction and the school, it was agreed that the primary 4,300 m² of roofing over the learning spaces, administration areas and library would be completed during the Christmas closure, with the remaining 480 m² over the gymnasium scheduled for the first-term holidays in 2026. This approach provided greater certainty around the school's reopening while allowing the construction team to respond to conditions encountered during the works.

Site access was provided on the afternoon of 17 December, with the school requiring the site to be fully handed back by 29 January. The compressed programme therefore required a high level of coordination and daily planning across all trades.

Material procurement was critical to achieving the programme. The new roof utilised a locally manufactured Kingspan roofing system, KSN1000FC Five Crown Roof & Wall Panel allowing for a just-in-time production and delivery strategy. The full 4,300 m² required for the primary stage was manufactured and delivered over two consecutive days, 18 and 19 December. This sequencing avoided the need for extensive on-site storage and allowed material deliveries to align directly with the establishment of the work areas.

At the same time, Scaffold Systems Canterbury commenced scaffold installation while the Wayman Roofing Services team began removing existing spouting, flashings and other fixtures required to prepare the roof for replacement. Coordinating these activities concurrently allowed the project to move rapidly from site establishment into the main roofing works.

Unlike a conventional construction site, the school was an established operational environment with existing fencing, landscaping, buildings, pedestrian routes and other site constraints. Maintaining these features while safely moving large quantities of new and removed roofing material presented a significant logistical challenge.

A key part of the construction planning was determining how new roofing panels could be efficiently transferred from delivery vehicles to the individual work faces, while simultaneously removing the existing roofing from the building.

The project team worked closely with Titan Cranes to develop a lifting strategy that enabled the new roofing panels to be safely and efficiently placed within the school grounds. Wayman Roofing Service's extensive experience with Kingspan systems further supported this process, allowing the team to commence installation as soon as materials arrived at site. This coordinated approach to lifting and material movement was critical to maintaining productivity within the restricted site environment and protecting the surrounding school infrastructure.

The removal of the existing roofing presented a second logistical challenge. Large volumes of roofing material needed to be safely removed from the building, temporarily stored and then taken off site without compromising the school's wider operations. The school supported the construction process by making a portion of the car park available for temporary storage of the removed material. This provided the project team with a controlled area to accumulate material while coordinating its removal.

Prior to construction commencing, the existing roofing product was also advertised for reuse. Rather than treating all the removed material as waste, arrangements were made with individuals and local community groups to collect suitable material directly from site. In many cases, material was made available at no cost where recipients could arrange prompt collection. This approach reduced the volume of material requiring conventional disposal while extending the useful life of the existing roofing materials and providing a practical benefit to the local community.