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Big Building, Big Water! The Perfect Siphonic Solution

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The recently completed Massey University Innovation Complex (IC Building), on the East Precinct Auckland Campus, Albany is a big project by any measure.

The 9,800 square metre state-of-the-art facility will be home to the science, innovation and research centre, and houses teaching and research laboratories and collaborative working spaces.

But it isn’t just the scale of the building, or the approx. 3,500 square metre roof area that made it a challenging project for architects and contractors involved, the science and laboratory aspect made for additional pipework, ducting and services that made the available roof areas and ceiling spaces very congested indeed.

This complexity meant that the Marley Akasison siphonic roof drainage system and its space-saving attributes provided an ideal solution.

Siphonic roof drainage systems are an efficient method of draining rainwater rapidly, especially from buildings with a large roof area. A siphonic roof drainage system utilises the full height of the building and the fall and acceleration of rainwater down the downpipe to create negative pressures that suck water off the roof. They require fewer, smaller downpipes and the pipework can be installed close to the roof with zero gradient and because of the suction the water volume is drained much faster.

Project architects, Athfield Architects approached Marley in February 2018 to provide siphonic roof drainage solutions for the Massey building, having previously worked together on the PwC Centre in Wellington.

Young architect Chi Tran was given the task of working with Marley to develop the drainage plan. A recent graduate, it was Chi’s first siphonic drainage project and a steep learning curve for him.

“With the usual gravity system, you need to integrate all these additional falls in the pipes. So, knowing that we’d be limited in space and competing for every single millimetre in those ceiling cavities, the siphonic system was definitely the most efficient way to get our routes to work,” he said.

Chi says that the siphonic system needs to be carefully planned, as the spacing between dropper pipes is very precise to create the hydraulic pressure needed for the system to prime and function. That meant a lot of coordination was required between hydraulic services and structural.

“Every little turn, every tailpipe, and offsets had to be considered. There were a couple instances where we had to design the structure around the siphonic system, otherwise penetrations would be required through a steel beam, for example – which we aim to avoid.”

In these cases, Chi worked with the structural engineer for a solution. “They were accommodating. And when we couldn’t, Marley was also very accommodating,” Chi said.

James Rodger, Building Services Manager at Southbase Construction coordinated the design/build on the project along with DL Good Plumbers and the hydraulic consultant.

James received the novated design from Athfield Architects and together with D.L. Goods, created a 3D model using Navisworks 3D visualization software, allowing the project team to fine-tune the system well before the install was scheduled to happen.

“Having Marley on board really early on, and DL Goods doing the coordination design, meant we had a really bulletproof design. So, we knew exactly where the fittings were going, there were no clashes, and there was no rework.

“And Marley were really good. Any changes, Marley would be really quick to respond, and tell us what we could and couldn’t do,” he said.

An additional benefit of getting the roof drainage system in place early was protecting the worksite during the record weather events that hit Auckland during the build.

“The main thing if you’re getting rain events during construction is you need to get water off the roof and away from the building. It was really handy for us – we didn’t have to do any temporary drainage, we could use a permanent system,” James says.

“From a contractor perspective, it was a very smooth process. Communication was good. Marley was very good to work with. The end result was a good outcome for the project, for us, and for the client and for the contractor.”

The Massey IC project was one of the largest Marley Akasison installations to date, but even though the massive building has only recently been handed over, the system’s effectiveness – even through record downpours, plus the ease of installation and exceptional support by the Marley team has won over the entire project team. In fact, Athfield Architects has already begun investigating it as an option for a major public building project. Stay tuned!

Project Details:

See more Akasison projects here

Wonderful in Whitford

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Glenn and Mel’s dream of escaping the hustle and bustle of suburban life led them to the rural town of Whitford, southeast of Auckland. In 2020, they found a perfect 3,000 square metre section of land to build their single-level country home. The eight-month build resulted in a beautiful 305 square metre home featuring natural materials and textures with clean lines.

The interior of the house has a neutral, earthy feel with concrete floors and natural accents of schist and timbers. The walls are painted in Resene Double White Pointer, and the ceiling is in Resene Alabaster.The exterior features schist columns framing the entranceway below a gabled roof to add to the country charm. The rest of the home has country-style vertical weatherboards finished in deep Resene English Walnut natural wood stain. The fascia and eaves are painted in Resene Lumbersider Low Sheen in Resene Alabaster.

The Marley Stratus Design Series® Stormcloud® spouting and RP80® downpipes in black tie it all together.

It was actually a hard choice because the Stratus colour range gave us plenty of great options to choose from.

Stratus Design Series® is available in Black, FlaxBlack®, Ironsand®, Grey Friars®, and metallic colours, Titanium and Copper.Glenn and Mel chose Marley Stratus Design Series® spouting and downpipes because they are stylish and hard-wearing, perfect for New Zealand’s harsh weather with the 15 year guarantee.

The Versatile quarter-round Stormcloud® profile with its angular look complements the design and matches the roof.The house consists of four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two lounges, and a double car garage with a loft used as a fifth bedroom. The saltwater, heated pool is one of the highlights of the home.

Whitford is a great community and a peaceful and private location, making it the perfect balance for Glenn and Mel’s desire for escape while still being close enough to Auckland City.

They are delighted with their new home and chose Marley Stratus Design Series® for its style, durability, and 15-year guarantee, though they know it will last much longer. The house is a perfect example of modern country design and functionality.

Although wishing they built the home a bit bigger, Glenn and Mel are in love with their beautiful new build “Perfect for the kiwi summers!”.

Vibrant & Victorian

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If there was ever a home with a story to tell, it’s this one! Situated in Clarks Beach, Hayley and Chris Parsons love their 640 square metre Victorian beauty that sits on 9 hectares of rural coastal land overlooks water on both sides.

As a military family the Parsons family moved regularly between domestic and international posts. But settling back in New Zealand, they wanted a rural lifestyle to raise their four children and Clarks Beach in Franklin ticked all the boxes.

It overlooks the water and is very peaceful. It always feels like you’re on holiday when you come home which is restful when you work in very busy roles. It is a great community.

Humble beginnings

Huntly House started its life back in 1911 in Central Palmerston North. It was the first house in Palmerston North to have its own electricity supply at some stage before 1924.

It was moved to another part of Palmerston North in the 1980’s and the Parsons were lucky enough to meet the man who owned it at that time. Thankfully he had left some cut marks in the house to remind him of his work – Hayley and Chris used the exact same ones and have kept those cuts visible in their home for the same reason.

The house flowed through many lives. People are often fascinated to learn that at one point it had been used as a mechanics workshop and the cut out for the grease pit remains in the main lounge!

The BIG move

The Parsons family initially decided to build a new, modern, single level dwelling on the site. This would have been simpler, faster, and cheaper than relocating a 3 storey, 111-year-old house!

However, they were totally enamoured with Huntly House the first time they saw her and ideas of ‘what-if’ started to flow if they owned the home. As with most house purchases, they became emotionally invested in the process and did everything needed to ensure the purchase happened. But it wasn’t easy – they were number 6 on the buyers list so had to convince the vendor to sell the house to them!

The sale went through and the planning phase started for moving Huntly House 500km North to Clarks Beach.

Preparing the house to move took about 5 days which involved removing brick chimneys, removing, and securing parts of the roof, separating 3 floors, removing stair banisters, removing parts of ceiling, cutting, bracing and labelling every single piece of timber that was removed and was intended to be reused.

Transportation of the first two smallest pieces was overnight from Palmerston North to Clarks Beach.

Transportation of the larger 4 pieces took two nights. The first leg was Palmerston North to Tokoroa and then Tokoroa to Clarks Beach.

The house travelled mostly straight up State Highway 1, twisting, and turning through the Desert Road and around Lake Taupo. They encountered a large house travelling in the opposite direction around Lake Taupo so had to hastily pull to the side of the road to let the move pass!

Once all 6 pieces were on site and everyone had managed a few hours’ sleep, the work to piece everything back together on piles started the very next morning. This process took about 7 days and then the detailed reconstruction started soon after that.

The renovation got started however in December 2017 the family moved to London, so they had to project manage the renovation from the other side of the world which was a challenge. Luckily, they had a great relationship with the builders – Heineke Builders Ltd.

The shift definitely added complications (of a budgetary nature) as they couldn’t do a lot of the work themselves as originally planned.

The most exciting part about our home is seeing the vision come to life – and I don’t mean in terms of decorating choices. We always felt the home could be used as more than just our family home and likewise, our land too. In the last two years we have let the house out for music recording, short film production, yoga classes, workshops, conference space, residential workshops, birthdays, Airbnb, a sheep sale and weddings.

The stately exterior

The original timber weatherboards are painted in Resene Double Truffle and the eaves in Resene Half Sea Fog.

The roof and some of the wooden accents at the top of the house are Grey Friars and that was also the colour chosen for the Marley Stratus Design Series® Stormcloud® spouting and RP80® downpipes. The darker shade of grey definitely frames the house beautifully.

The paths around the house are Waikato fleck pebble, created from firebricks salvaged from the fireplaces at Rahiri House, Mt Albert which were offered to Hayley when they renovated.

Whilst a cottage garden would have been in keeping with the style of house, it could not stand up to the coastal environment therefore natives suitable for coastal and high wind conditions have been planted.

Marley is a household name for us. We have used Marley products on all our building projects and love that it’s made in New Zealand.

The Parsons did have the option to use pressed steel spouting, like what was already on the house, but as they’re in a coastal environment they decided on the longevity of the Marley product because it won’t rust or corrode – and the Stratus Design Series® had the Grey Friars® they wanted.

We knew we wanted to have a neutral colour palette that would complement the environment. We started with the roof and spouting in Grey Friars and the door colour, Resene Pohutakawa, and went from there.

We also knew we didn’t want to have white downpipes so selected Stratus RP80® in Grey Friars® to match the roof and decks and they are really happy with the contrast.

The Stormcloud® profile was chosen for its clean, strong lines.

The beautiful interior

Hayley and Chris have re-used as much of the original timber as possible. Every piece of architrave, beading, skirting board, and panelling that was removed in preparation for cutting the house, was labelled and their corresponding positions on the walls were also labelled.

Trying to put it all back together was like a massive wasgij but it was so worth it!

Huntly House now has 7 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 2 full kitchens, and a new kitchenette, scullery and laundry. The floorplan now means the house can be split into three independent sections.

They opted for quite a neutral colour scheme inside with walls in Resene Quarter Truffle and ceilings in Quarter seafog. The main feature is definitely the timber staircase, exposed beams and wooden flooring which are all finished in Resene Qristal Clear polyurethane matte varnish to bring out the natural richness in the wood.

The modern kitchen incorporates things like a flip top power and USB charger in the breakfast bar for convenience. The smooth white style with wooden accents looks crisp and clean.

The bathrooms have a traditional feel, one with the original clawfoot bath which they resurfaced, and the cabinet and even the copper cistern in the main bathroom are original too.

In hindsight we probably would have clawed back some areas of the budget to put full sound proofing in-between the floors – families are noisy! Our 4 children are now grown, but still come home to visit with their partners when they can. We love how the house can be used in so many ways and for more than one thing at a time.

It feels great that we have succeeded in recreating Huntly House for our home but also for the community and others that wish to enjoy her.

There’s no denying she looks the part in the landscape, and the Parsons know she will stand the test of time overlooking the coast for another 100 years!

We’re so pleased we went with Marley Stratus Design Series® because it looks great and we really do know it will last!

Whangaparaoa refresh

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When Ian Thrush from Parallel Architecture embarked on renovations to his family’s Whangaparaoa home, he certainly didn’t expect it to turn into an almost full re-build!

The original weatherboard home was built in 1950’s and sits on a half share of the 1,100 square metre cross lease site.

Over the years the old house had many additions and alterations that ended up causing a really disorganised floor plan” says Ian.

Originally, the intention was to achieve more storage space and update the bathroom. However, over time the scope changed and grew – as it does! Six years later, the 110 square metre footprint remains unchanged, however they have corrected the design flaws via a new layout and flow. All but two rooms were moved, and they now have a well-organised 3-bedroom family home.

The most challenging part of the build was living in the house while renovating. Not to mention having a baby over that time also! Ideally, we would have had an empty house to work on but that is not always possible, so you just do what’s needed to make it work!” Ian says.

Ian chose Marley Stratus Design Series® Typhoon® spouting and RP80® downpipes as they’re available in Grey Friars® to match the roof, and because the half-round profile has excellent rainfall capacity. It’s also particularly hard wearing in a coastal location, with great UV resistance and a 15-year guarantee.

Being in Whangaparaoa, the property is on tank water, therefore Ian also opted to install a Marley Curve® leaf diverters on the RP80® downpipes. The Curve® removes leaves and debris to protect tanks and stormwater systems. Curve® is very easy to install and low maintenance, capturing over 99% of water with a clean screen.

The family went for the Dynex PALLISIDE® traditional profile in slate to create a character home. The double light-grey boards look great with white box corners and window facings, to emulate the traditional timber look. The overall outcome is clean lines for a modern, yet characterful home.

Ian chose Dynex Soffit to replace the existing soffit as it looks great, is low maintenance, and as with PALLISIDE® weatherboards, never needs to be painted. It also adds to the classic style of the home.

Ian upgraded from single glazing to double glazing, which has been great. That combined with a wrapped and insulated home has made a world of difference to the family’s quality of life.

The interior of the home has a very neutral palette of Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream, Black White ceilings, and timber accents to bring a touch of nature in. The bathroom and laundry have a classic look with vertical tongue and groove boards on the lower half of the walls.

Sensor lights were installed in the hall and under the vanity, which is great at night for using the bathroom or checking on the kids. Nice soft light at shin level, rather than a ceiling light in your face!

The best aspect of our new home is that it is truly low maintenance. And we also love the indoor-outdoor flow” says Ian.

As both architectural designer and homeowner, Ian and his family are really happy with their newly refreshed home, and are pleased they chose the Marley Stratus Design Series® Typhoon® spouting and RP80® downpipes for the low maintenance, stylish finish they were after.

Pauanui escape

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When the Mullan family were looking to build a holiday home, they wanted to create a sanctuary to escape to, a place to unwind and relax and something completely different from their house in Auckland. Once they stepped inside the Lockwood show home in Kopu, they knew a Lockwood would be just perfect!

Thanks to Coastwood Homes, the build took only 6 months, including moving the existing house, and the Mullan family couldn’t be happier with the stunning result.

Before embarking on the build, the existing bach had to be removed. The biggest challenge on the site proved to be the ground.

The sand base was found to be incredibly challenging when trying to lay the piles so Israel and Katie from Coastwood Homes had to roll in a gigantic vacuum to clean out the pile holes and then 80 piles had to be laid.

Once this was done, the job went very smoothly. The Coastwood Homes team provided the Mullan’s daily updates and photos so they could see the home take shape.

The Mullan’s knew they wanted to keep the size of the home at around 140m² with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and had their hearts set on a sleek and modern black kitchen to contrast against the blonded timber of the interior.

A café-style kitchen and separate media room/lounge was a must, as well as laundry, separate toilet, and excellent storage space.

They spent time sketching and playing around with the interior layout then passed it to Israel to weave his magic, adding his flair and creativity to develop the design.

In the bathrooms, a tiled feature wall was key. Subway tiles were something they had considered, though they were open to ideas. The finished result of white textured tile is a twist on the classic look which looks stunning against the timber and black fittings.

Otherwise, we wanted a relaxed, pared back, beach inspired look and feel – we have tried to stay true to natural colours with our furnishings – blues, greens, browns, to bring the outdoors in.

The exterior was inspired by a Lockwood show home in Thames and features a quarter sawn pine exterior, on Lockwood’s solid wall system. It is painted in Dulux X10 in black.

Having had a lot of experience building homes on the coast, Coastwood Homes knew that salt spray can cause continual problems with soffits, steel spouting brackets and leaking joins. Their solution was to turn to local companies whose products are specifically made to stand up to New Zealand’s harsh conditions.

Coastwood Homes chose to partner with Marley for Stratus Design Series® Typhoon® spouting and RP80® downpipes in Black. With Dynex for their Dynex Soffit in white.

The low maintenance aspect of the Marley spouting was our initial appeal; it fits with the Lockwood brand of low maintenance products. The fact that it is also a New Zealand brand appeals a lot as well!

The fact that the spouting is available in black to match the roof and house colour made it an easy choice to go with Marley Typhoon® spouting. There is no need to paint anything to match and it is much more durable in a salty beach environment.

To contrast their Marley Stratus Design Series® Typhoon® Black spouting they used Dynex Soffit. Another long lasting, low maintenance New Zealand made product.

The Mullan’s also wanted to take a sustainable approach to their home. Marley and Dynex are both part of Meridian Energy’s Certified Renewable Energy programme aiming for 100% renewable electricity by 2025. Lockwood homes are built from renewable pine trees, so the whole home is both sustainable and renewable.

Since the build has been completed the Mullan family have enjoyed many weekends entertaining family and friends in their incredible holiday house. Covered outdoor spaces and decks connecting the front and back of the home provide the perfect place to relax.

We love sitting on the back deck under the enormous gable, completely protected from the elements but feeling completely immersed in the outdoors. We are totally rapt with every room in that house – there is nothing we would change.

 

Thanks to the awesome team at Lockwood for use of some of the photos for this article.

Bunnings Queenstown

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Four years in the making, the $40 million, 8,100 square metre Bunnings on the Frankton Flats, Queenstown, finally opened earlier this year.

Bunnings first applied to council to build the Queenstown store on the 1.6-hectare site in April 2017, but was declined, leading Bunnings to appeal the decision to the Environment Court and finally getting approval for site works last year.

Now, standing tall under The Remarkables with the largest trade yard of any New Zealand Bunnings, business is booming and they’re proud to be supplying important building materials to support the local construction sector.

But, big buildings need big drainage so the Marley Akasison siphonic roof drainage system was chosen to cope with the imposing structure, in an area known for its environmental extremes, including snow and sudden, massive dumps of rain.

We spoke with some of the key partners involved in delivering Bunnings Queenstown to learn more about the factors that made Akasison the right drainage solution for this landmark project.

Saving space

Main contractor for the Bunnings Queenstown design/build project was Milton head-office based Calder Stewart Construction.

Paul Smith, National Design Manager says that despite the complex planning process for the project, the build itself was relatively straight forward with a prefabricated steel structure, Kingspan panels and roofing.

One issue however, was to provide adequate roof drainage despite the client’s brief for no visible downpipes on the front face of the building. That made Akasison the ideal solution.

“When we do design builds, typically we find the projects have been designed with a traditional drainage system,” Smith says.

“But when you get into the detailed design and you realise it actually doesn’t suit a traditional method, because you can’t have the downpipes where you need them.

“That’s when we contacted Marley and looked at a siphonic option,” Smith says.

Siphonic systems use the unique properties of water to draw the water down the pipe at a much faster rate.

In traditional roof drainage the water spirals down the downpipe, with a tunnel of air in the middle, so only a limited amount of water is discharged. That means multiple downpipes are required to handle the total load during heavy rain periods to stop water overflowing out of the gutters.

Siphonic systems require fewer, smaller downpipes because the system gets loaded and the water fills up and drops down the downpipe without the air tunnel. This means the water volume is cleared much faster. And the pipework can be installed horizontally and close to the roof with no gradient.

Paul Smith’s first experience with siphonics was using it for a cinema complex project in Christchurch, which had a long internal gutter, but, like Bunnings Queenstown, nowhere to put downpipes. Smith saw siphonics as the best solution and was impressed with the result.

Now, Smith has introduced the system for the new, Port Otago building in Port Chalmers as well, “because it’s all glass and no one wants to see downpipes,” he says.

Smith says that there are significant planning benefits in using the Akasison system.

“With the speed that many projects are being developed in these days, there’s often not enough time to have the design finished to see where all the downpipes are, and to get all the drains cast into the floor.

“If you’ve only got one connection point it’s easier. Instead of having multiple vertical downpipes, you’ve only got the one vertical downpipe, depending on building size, so you can make a duct space or a set out, and that’s where all your siphonic system can go to,” he says.

Smith works with the Marley design team to do the concept for budgeting, and once all details are agreed with the plumber, it goes back to Marley for the detailed design phase. Then, all the documentation is ready for the building consent.

And Smith says the councils like it.

“If you show them, “Here, Marley have designed it for us. Here’s all your documentation you need,” they usually go, “Cool. Tick the box”.

And Smith says the system stacks up well for those “big, big, projects”.

“Even if there is a premium for siphonics, when you weigh it up against the simplicity of maintaining the client’s brief of clean walls, or the fact the architect’s given us no space to put any services in, it helps solve those issues for us and more than makes up for any difference”.

Surprising performance

Peter Diver Plumbing was the subcontractor for Bunnings Queenstown and Director, Michael Diver has used a mixture of siphonic systems for different projects over 15 years, but says Marley is definitely his preferred option.

“We’ve done other siphonic systems in the past, but Marley has a different clipping and rail system compared to others. The overall product looks a lot better and it allows for expansion and contraction a lot better than other systems out there, so it will give a lot longer life.”

Diver says that prior to the Bunnings job, his team had been involved in a much larger installation in Christchurch with the Marley system at Waimakariri Multi-Use Sport Facility, in Rangiora.

Diver says that the first time using siphonics was “definitely an eye-opener.”

“When you run a 75mm pipe where you’d normally have a 200mm pipe, you do question yourself. But then, when you see it working, it’s quite surprising how much water it actually sucks out.”

Diver got a chance to see the Akasison installation get a solid workout this year, with big one-in-200 year rain events hitting both Queenstown and Rangiora. Diver says that the team went out to see how the systems were coping  and found both were well within capacity.

“You just have to trust the Marley design team to specify the right system.

“It can look quite daunting to start with, but the Marley guys are really good. They come down and do training. They run over everything with you, give you really good documentation with plans, fittings list, measurements, everything like that. So once you actually drill into it, it’s actually a lot easier than it looks.”

So, why does Diver think siphonic systems are not more extensively used?

“I just think it’s lack of knowledge from consultants. If they saw the benefits of it and the cost savings and the time and space savings they’d use it more. Those consultants just don’t get to see what it is and how it works,” he says.

Easy install

Self-employed Plumber Dave Weight of Ezyplumb contracted to Peter Diver Plumbing on this project and said it was a relief to not have to wrangle massive pipes on the Bunnings job.

He says it was a relief to not have to wrangle massive pipes on the job.

“When you have big pipes that have got fall on them, they always hit an aircon duct sooner or later. And putting in a 125mm or a 80mm siphonic is a hell of a lot easier than trying to put 150mm PVC in and getting the ends together and all that,” he said.

Weight says the Bunnings project was a good one for him to start on, with a ‘small’ 120 metre straight run.

“I got to see it in action. It started raining and I actually opened up the inspection lid that was at the very end of the line where it goes into the 200mm.

“Obviously on a normal system, if you open that lid, you are going to get absolutely saturated. But I took the lid fully off and there was just a solid 125mm column of water blasting past that inspection lid.”

Weight said that getting all the plans from Marley, with a full list of materials and measurements made the process even easier.

“I’ve done bits and pieces on other systems, but that’s the first time I’ve done a whole system. I thought it was cool. It was definitely a process, but it wasn’t really that difficult and I liked the end result.”

 

Details:

Developer: Bunnings (NZ) Limited, Owen Sanders (Project Manager)

Main Contractor: Calder Stewart Industries Ltd/Calder Stewart Construction

Plumbing subcontractor: Diver Group/Peter Diver Plumbing, Michael Diver.

Installer: Dave Weight

 

See more Akasison projects here

Contact Marley