NZ Blood Service building progresses

Ngāi Tahu Property is working in partnership with the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) to build a new 3,900m2, two-level state-of-the-art facility for Te Waipounamu.

The building in Lester Lane, Christchurch, is a purpose-designed facility comprising a blood donor centre, manufacturing and testing laboratories along with specialised warehousing and support function offices.

The new facility will replace the existing centre in Riccarton Road and will bring all operations under one roof. It will enable NZBS to meet its commitment to provide blood and blood products to patients in New Zealand hospitals and to maintain New Zealand’s self-sufficiency for blood products.

The new centre will allow for the adoption of new technologies and address the current shortage of space for general and specialised blood product warehousing. It will feature more space for donor beds, which are needed to meet the increasing demand for plasma.

This will provide a more comfortable environment for the very loyal group of donors in Christchurch, enabling them to donate more often. It will also allow space for new donors when they are needed to meet demand.

The NZBS hopes that the partnership with Ngāi Tahu Property, as developer and landlord, will provide opportunities to promote collaboration between Māori organisations and the Crown.

Onsite building commenced earlier this year with the construction of a major gravel raft foundation.

The night photo (above) shows the concrete pour carried out on 20 September. This started at 3 am and went for six hours until the whole 2,500 m2 ground floor had been finished. A total of 334 m3 of concrete were pumped onto the site. The project is currently on time and budget, and is scheduled to open late 2014.