Albert Barracks
The Albert Barracks was a major British military installation that overlooked Auckland, New Zealand, from the mid-1840s to 1870, during the city's early colonial period. The perimeter wall was built between 1846 and the early 1850s, in the area now bounded by Kitchener Street, Waterloo Quadrant, Symonds Street, Wellesley Street East, according to Colonel T R Mould's 1860 map of Defensible Works round Auckland; the site is now occupied by Albert Park and the University of Auckland's City Campus, Princes Street runs through the centre of it. All that remains of the barracks structures is part of the perimeter wall, on the university campus; the fortification was built to reassure the people of Auckland following the 1845–1846 Flagstaff War in the Bay of Islands. Tenders were called for construction of the perimeter wall on 18 December 1846; the wall was enclosed the 22 acres site. Construction of the scoria wall with stone quarried from Engineer Quarry in Mount Eden was undertaken by both Europeans and local Maori under Graham's supervision.
As this type of construction was new to Maori, training was given to them, with the result that "it would be difficult to point out any marked difference between them and the work performed by the Europeans". The speed and quality of the work encouraged the Europeans employing Maori to set up a night school to provide them with additional training. In addition, a skills based pay structure was introduced for them with three steps from entrance class at two shillings per day, 2nd class at two shillings and six pence, those who were proficient three shillings and six pence per day. European stonemasons earned between eight shillings per day. During the same period, a number of buildings were constructed inside the wall, including ordinance halls, theatre, a magazine for storing powder and a military reading room. There was a large parade ground; the original hospital was a single-story building constructed from stone blocks, similar to those used for the barracks wall. It accommodated about 50 patients in six wards.
With the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863 the hospital could not cope with demand and several wooden houses were used as temporary hospitals for the overflow. The hospital buildings included a kitchen block. In 1866 the magazine was moved beside Mount Eden Prison. Troops of the 65th Regiment were the first stationed at Albert Barracks. In 1849 they were replaced by the 58th Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Robert Wynyard. In August 1855 a detachment of the 58th Regiment under Major Charles Nugent was sent to Taranaki on the Duke of Portland. Tensions had been growing there over land sales and New Plymouth was deemed vulnerable to attack by local Maori; the Auckland Volunteer Rifles were used the Albert Barracks for training. In October 1858 the 65th Regiment under Colonel Charles E Gold returned to Auckland from Wellington; the 58th Regiment departed for England on the Mary Ann in November. In March 1860, 200 men of the 65th Regiment were transferred on the steamer Airdale to Taranaki to reinforce the garrison there.
The troops' arrival and occupation of the Waitara block became the commencement of the First Taranaki War. On 1 May 1860 the Auckland Militia were called to assemble at Albert Barracks; the Auckland Militia Regiment consisted of four Battalions, one based in Auckland, one at Onehunga, one at Otahuhu, one on the North Shore. The Auckland Battalion was consisted of five companies. In June 1860 more troops from the 65th Regiment and a party of Royal Engineers arrived from Sydney on the Nugget. In November 1860 the 65th Regiment departed and was replaced by the 2nd Battalion of 14th Regiment, who arrived on the steam ship Robert Lowe and the Boanerges, they were joined in 22 January 1861 by a detachment from the 57th Regiment who had arrived from Bombay on the Castilian. The remainder of the 57th from the Castilian had been dispatched to New Plymouth on HM steam sloop Cordelia from Onehunga; the 65th returned to Albert Barracks from Waitara in April 1861. By May they numbered 800 men under Colonel Alfred F W Wyatt, along with some 200 men of the Royal Artillery and about 50 men from the Royal Engineers.
The Royal Artillery had stables constructed either near the Barracks. These units remained until February 1862. In 1863, 340 soldiers of the 40th Regiment were housed at the barracks, they in turn were replaced by two companies of the 65th in May 1863. In November the 50th Regiment was at the barracks. All the troops were deployed to areas of conflict during the Waikato invasion, Tauranga Campaign, the Second Taranaki War, with various units coming and going as they were redeployed to other areas. From 1865 the various Imperial forces began to leave New Zealand, its defense being placed in the hands of the local militias by July/August 1867; the final Imperial Troops stationed in New Zealand were the 2nd Battalion of the 18th Regiment. They were housed at the Barracks until their departure in February 1870 on SS Hero, the land and buildings being gifted to the New Zealand Government by the British government. In 1849 the crew of the shipwrecked French National Corvette L Alceme were housed at the barracks for seven weeks while awaiting repatriation.
The grounds were used a cricket venue in 1850 and the buildings, at various times from 1849, for balls and theatrical performances. Up to 1857 Auckland had relied on septic tanks for sewage disposal, but these were no longer suitable given the growing population. Albert Barracks with its 1
Air raid shelter
Air raid shelters known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack. Prior to World War II, in May 1924, an Air Raid Precautions Committee was set up in the United Kingdom. For years, little progress was made with shelters because of the irreconcilable conflict between the need to send the public underground for shelter and the need to keep them above ground for protection against gas attacks. In February 1936 the Home Secretary appointed a technical Committee on Structural Precautions against Air Attack. By November 1937, there had only been slow progress, because of a serious lack of data on which to base any design recommendations, the Committee proposed that the Home Office should have its own department for research into structural precautions, rather than relying on research work done by the Bombing Test Committee to support the development of bomb design and strategy.
This proposal was implemented in January 1939. During the Munich crisis, local authorities dug trenches to provide shelter. After the crisis, the British Government decided to make these a permanent feature, with a standard design of precast concrete trench lining; these turned out to perform poorly. They decided to issue free to poorer households the Anderson shelter, to provide steel props to create shelters in suitable basements. Air raid shelters were built to serve as protection against enemy air raids. However, pre-existing edifices designed for other functions, such as underground stations, cellars in houses or basements in larger establishments, railway arches, above ground, were suitable for safeguarding people during air raids. A used home shelter known as the Anderson shelter would be built in a garden and equipped with beds as a refuge from air raids. Cellars have always been much more important in Continental Europe than in the United Kingdom, in Germany all houses and apartment blocks have been and still are built with cellars.
For this reason, air-raid precautions during World War II in Germany could be much more implemented by the authorities than was possible in the UK. All, necessary was to ascertain that cellars were being prepared to accommodate all the residents of a building. However, the inadequacies of cellars and basements became apparent in the firestorms during the incendiary attacks on the larger German inner cities Hamburg and Dresden; when burning buildings and apartment blocks above them collapsed in the raging winds, the occupants became trapped in these basement shelters, which had become overcrowded after the arrival of inhabitants from other buildings rendered unsafe in earlier attacks. Some occupants perished from carbon monoxide poisoning. Hochbunker, "high-rise" bunkers or blockhouses, were a peculiarly German type of construction, designed to relieve the pressure German authorities were facing to accommodate additional numbers of the population in high-density housing areas, as well as pedestrians on the streets during air raids.
In contrast to other shelters, these buildings were considered bomb-proof. They had the advantage of being built upward, much cheaper than downward excavation. There were no equivalents of hochbunkers in the cities of the Allied countries. Hochbunkers consisted of large concrete blocks above ground with walls between 1 m and 1.5 m thick and with huge lintels above doorways and openings. They had a constant interior temperature of 7 to 10 °C, which made them suitable for laboratories, both during and after the war, they were designated to protect people, administrative centres, important archives, works of art. Their structures took many forms: consisting of square blocks, or of low, long rectangular or triangular shapes; some of the circular towers contained helical floors that curved their way upward within the circular walls. Many of these structures may still be seen to this day, they have been converted into offices, storage space, some have been adapted for hotels and schools, as well as many other peacetime purposes.
In Schöneberg, a block of flats was built over the Pallasstrasse air-raid shelter after World War II. During the Cold War, NATO used the shelter for food storage; the cost of demolishing these edifices after the war would have been enormous, as the attempts at breaking up one of the six so-called Flak towers of Vienna proved. The attempted demolition caused no more than a crack in one of the walls of the tower, after which efforts were abandoned. Only the Zoo Tower in Berlin was demolished. One particular variant of the Hochbunker was the Winkeltürme, named after its designer, Leo Winkel of Duisburg. Winkel patented his design in 1934, from 1936 on, Germany built 98 Winkeltürme of five different types; the towers had a conical shape with walls. The dimensions of the towers varied. Diameters ranged the height between 20 and 25 meters. The
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style that flourished in Europe during the High and Late Middle Ages. It was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. Originating in 12th-century France, it was used for cathedrals and churches, until the 16th century, its most prominent features included the use of the rib vault and the flying buttress, which allowed the weight of the roof to be counterbalanced by buttresses outside the building, giving greater height and more space for windows. Another important feature was the extensive use of stained glass, the rose window, to bring light and color to the interior. Another feature was the use of realistic statuary on the exterior over the portals, to illustrate biblical stories for the illiterate parishioners; these technologies had all existed in Romanesque architecture, but they were used in more innovative ways and more extensively in Gothic architecture to make buildings taller and stronger. The first notable example is considered to be the Abbey of Saint-Denis, near Paris, whose choir and facade were reconstructed with Gothic features.
The choir was completed in 1144. The style appeared in some civic architecture in northern Europe, notably in town halls and university buildings. A Gothic revival began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th century Europe and continued for ecclesiastical and university structures, into the 20th century. Gothic architecture was known during the period as opus francigenum, The term "Gothic architecture" originated in the 16th century, was very negative, suggesting barbaric. Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in his 1550 Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style, in the introduction to the Lives he attributed various architectural features to "the Goths" whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome, erecting new ones in this style; the Gothic style originated in the Ile-de-France region of northern France in the first half of the 12th century. A new dynasty of French Kings, the Capetians, had subdued the feudal lords, had become the most powerful rulers in France, with their capital in Paris.
They allied themselves with the bishops of the major cities of northern France, reduced the power of the feudal abbots and monasteries. Their rise coincided with an enormous growth of the population and prosperity of the cities of northern France; the Capetian Kings and their bishops wished to build new cathedrals as monuments of their power and religious faith. The church which served as the primary model for the style was the Abbey of St-Denis, which underwent reconstruction by the Abbot Suger, first in the choir and the facade, Suger was a close ally and biographer of the French King, Louis VII, a fervent Catholic and builder, the founder of the University of Paris. Suger remodeled the ambulatory of the Abbey, removed the enclosures that separated the chapels, replaced the existing structure with imposing pillars and rib vaults; this created higher and wider bays, into which he installed larger windows, which filled the end of the church with light. Soon afterwards he rebuilt the facade, adding three deep portals, each with a tympanum, an arch filled with sculpture illustrating biblical stories.
The new facade was flanked by two towers. He installed a small circular rose window over the central portal; this design became the prototype for a series of new French cathedrals. Sens Cathedral was the first Cathedral to be built in the new style. Other versions of the new style soon appeared in Noyon Cathedral; the Gothic style was adapted by some French monastic orders, notably the Cistercian order under Saint Bernard of Clairvaux It was used in an austere form without ornament at the new Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay and the church of Clairvaux Abbey, whose site is now occupied by a French prison. The new style was copied outside the Kingdom of France in the Duchy of Normandy. Early examples of Norman Gothic included Coutances Cathedral. Through the rule of the Angevin dynasty, the new style was introduced to England and spread from there to Low Countries, Spain, northern Italy and Sicily; the Gothic style did not replace the Romanesque everywhere in Europe. The Late Romanesque continued to flourish in the Holy Roman Empire under the Hohenstaufens and Rhineland.
From the end of the 12th century until the middle of the 13th century, the gothic style spread from the Île-de-France to appear in other cities of northern France. New structures in the style included Chartres Cathedral; the early type of rib vault used of Saint Denis and Notre Dame, with six parts, was modified to four parts, making it simpler and stronger. Amiens and Chartres were among the first to use the flying buttress. At Reims, the buttresses were given greater weight and strength by the addition of heavy stone pinnacles on top; these were decorated with statues of ange
Fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, is used to solidify rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From early history to modern times, walls have been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest; some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress; these constructions served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads and lands that might threaten the kingdom. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border; the art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called "castrametation" since the time of the Roman legions.
Fortification is divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. There is an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble and command a specific defensive territory. Roman forts and hill forts were the main antecedents of castles in Europe, which emerged in the 9th century in the Carolingian Empire; the Early Middle Ages saw the creation of some towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb and disperse the energy of cannon fire. Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were vulnerable, so the walls were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes to improve protection; the arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification.
Star forts did not fare well against the effects of high explosive, the intricate arrangements of bastions, flanking batteries and the constructed lines of fire for the defending cannon could be disrupted by explosive shells. Steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the early 20th centuries; however the advances in modern warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, providing a buffer between hostile militaries. Many US military installations are known as forts. Indeed, during the pioneering era of North America, many outposts on the frontiers non-military outposts, were referred to generically as forts. Larger military installations may be called fortresses; the word fortification can refer to the practice of improving an area's defence with defensive works. City walls are fortifications but are not called fortresses; the art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castrametation since the time of the Roman legions.
The art/science of laying siege to a fortification and of destroying it is called siegecraft or siege warfare and is formally known as poliorcetics. In some texts this latter term applies to the art of building a fortification. Fortification is divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. Permanent fortifications are erected at leisure, with all the resources that a state can supply of constructive and mechanical skill, are built of enduring materials. Field fortifications—for example breastworks—and known as fieldworks or earthworks, are extemporized by troops in the field assisted by such local labour and tools as may be procurable and with materials that do not require much preparation, such as earth and light timber, or sandbags. An example of field fortification was the construction of Fort Necessity by George Washington in 1754. There is an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification; this is employed when in the course of a campaign it becomes desirable to protect some locality with the best imitation of permanent defences that can be made in a short time, ample resources and skilled civilian labour being available.
An example of this is the construction of Roman forts in England and in other Roman territories where camps were set up with the intention of staying for some time, but not permanently. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory. An example of this is the massive medieval castle of Carcassonne. From early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for many cities. In Bulgaria, near the town of Provadia a walled fortified settlement today called Solnitsata starting from 4700 BC had a diameter of about 300 feet, was home to 350 people living in two-storey houses, was encircled by a fortified wall; the huge walls around the settlement, which were built tall and with stone blocks which are 6 feet high and 4.5 feet thick, make it one of the earliest walled settlements in Europe but it is younger than the walled town of Sesklo in Greece from 6800 BC.
Uruk in ancient Su
Maungawhau
Maungawhau / Mount Eden is a scoria cone in the Mount Eden suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. The cone is a dormant volcano and its summit, at 196 metres above sea level, is the highest natural point on the Auckland isthmus; the majestic bowl-like crater is 50 metres deep. The volcano erupted from three craters 28,000 years ago, with the last eruptions from the southern crater filling the northern craters; the western face of the hill was extensively quarried. This is the site of a large ecological restoration project run by volunteers. Maungawhau is a Māori-language name meaning'mountain of the whau tree'; the name "Mount Eden" honours 1st Earl of Auckland. The crater is named Te Ipu-a-Mataaho. Maungawhau / Mount Eden attracts many tourists, as it is the highest natural point in Auckland, provides good views in all directions over the city. There used to be a large number of tourist buses driving to the summit but these were banned in 2011; the maunga authority banned all vehicles driving to the summit in 2016, with the exception of people with limited mobility.
From the 1950s the peak was used by the New Zealand Post Office for VHF radio communications in two buildings, several hundred metres apart, each with their own antenna farm. One building housed transmitting equipment, while the other housed receiving equipment. In the 1960s the site was staffed during the five-day working week due to the large number of valves that wore out under the stress of high power and needed frequent servicing. Typical use of the facility was for businesses e.g. taxi or delivery firms needing mobile communications to vehicles. An underground water reservoir has been located on the northern side of Maungawhau / Mount Eden since the 1870s; the original reservoir was replaced in 1912, a second, reservoir added in 1930. The reservoirs upgraded to meet growing demand, work together to supply the Mount Eden, One Tree Hill and Khyber Pass areas; the trig station at the summit was used as a reference point for drawing up Auckland's suburbs. The platform was built with help from Prince Alfred's elephant.
The elephant was rewarded with lollies and beer. In the 2014 Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the Tamaki Makaurau Collective of 13 Auckland iwi, the volcano was named Maungawhau / Mount Eden and ownership was vested to the collective, it is now co-governed by the collective and Auckland Council in common benefit of the iwi "and all other people of Auckland". Pronunciation Friends of Maungawhau website Photographs of Maungawhau held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections
Aotea Square
Aotea Square is a large paved public area in the CBD of Auckland, New Zealand. Opened in 1979 by Sir Dove-Myer Robinson next to Queen Street, it is used for open-air concerts and gatherings, markets and political rallies. In November 2010, a major redevelopment of Aotea Square was completed; the square was redesigned to make it appropriate for use by crowds of up to 20,000 people. Its name is derived from Motu Aotea, the Māori name for Great Barrier Island, the largest offshore island of New Zealand 90 km from downtown Auckland; the square was created in 1979, with a large part of it being the former end of Grey's Avenue, which used to connect directly to Queen Street - a large underground carpark with 930 spaces had been erected underneath in 1975. In 2000 a competition for a redesign was held, but in 2004, before the winning design by Ted Smyth and Associates could be built, damage to the car park roof was discovered, which stopped the project. While the roof was temporarily stabilised and plans for its repair made, a consultation process initiated by mayor Dick Hubbard called'Outside the Square' resulted in a new proposal.
This proposal was abandoned. After this the old design was revised several times and was adopted in 2008. Construction started in November 2008 and ran to late 2010, during which there were no events in the square; the project was projected to cost NZ$80 million, around $45 million for the car park repair, $25 million for the upgrade, $10 million for works on the Aotea Centre facade. A cost saving of $15 million was identified during the process due to a modified construction process for the car park roof, which allowed the project to dispense with building a temporary car park. Aotea Square is utilised for public events, including fairs, protest rallies, music festivals and rock concerts. Aotea Square was site of a major civil disturbance on 7 December 1984, during a free end-of-academic year rock concert given by bands including Herbs and DD Smash. A power cut interrupted the concert for a time, some of the concert-goers began throwing bottles at police in attendance, who called up additional forces in riot gear but at first did not intervene further.
Dave Dobbyn, DD Smash’s lead singer, was accused of having incited a riot by declaring "I wish those riot squad guys would stop wanking and put their little batons away", followed by an announcement by Triple M, the radio station promoting the concert, that the performance would be stopped on the request of the police. This caused a riot amongst parts of the audience, who moved into Queen Street, smashing shop windows and overturning cars, causing over NZ$1 million in reported damage. Others present noted that the rioting was influenced by a number of factors, including the large number of intoxicated audience members, youth relief about the end of the Muldoon era, a confrontational attitude by the police, who blocked the exits from the concert area, giving the crowd no obvious way to disperse; the riot was the subject of a Commission of Inquiry headed by Peter Mahon. Beginning on 15 October 2011, the square was the site of an Occupy Movement protest. Protesters pitched tents and erected ad hoc shelters and camped on the grassy areas, intending to occupy the site for six weeks until 30 November.
In fact, the occupation lasted into January 2012, when Auckland Council served trespass notices and security guards and police jointly removed or arrested the occupiers on 23 January 2012. The occupation was over with a total of 30 arrests; the Edwardian Auckland Town Hall is at the Queen Street entrance to the square. It has a main concert chamber with excellent acoustics, was extensively restored and upgraded in 1994. To the south of the square are the Administration block of the Auckland City Council and the entry to Myers Park. On the western side of the square is Auckland's main conference and theatre venue, the Aotea Centre; the foyer contains art works by many New Zealand artists including a full-length portrait in bronze of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa by Terry Stringer. To the north of the square is a cinema/theatre complex which includes the Event Cinema venue in the IMAX centre, the 1929 Civic Theatre, built in the atmospheric theatre style. Aotea Square was the location of a swamp and drained by the Waihorotiu Stream.
The stream was turned into an open sewer canal and bricked over and the swampy area drained. A three-storey underground parking garage accessible from Mayoral Drive and Greys Avenue was constructed in the 1970s. A number of art works are in Aotea Square: At the Queen Street entrance is an arch called'Waharoa', formed in wood and copper by Selwyn Muru, a Māori sculptor; this is an expressionist version of a traditional Māori entry gate. It features symbols like birds and the crescent moon and stars but elements like the nuclear disarmament symbol, reflecting the modern influences on New Zealand art. In front of the Town Hall is a bronze statue of Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, a former mayor of Auckland; this work is by the New Zealand sculptor Toby Twiss. Near the Town Hall is a bronze figure of a Māori warrior by Lyndon Smith, commissioned in the 1960s for the lobby of the Auckland Saving Bank's new building on Queen Street. In 1997 the ASB presented it to the City of Auckland. In the centre of the square is a bronze fountain by New Zealand sculptor Terry Stringer.
This angular "mountain" was co
Sky Tower (Auckland)
The Sky Tower is a telecommunications and observation tower in Auckland, New Zealand. Located at the corner of Victoria and Federal Streets within the city's CBD, it is 328 metres tall, as measured from ground level to the top of the mast, making it the tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere and the 25th tallest tower in the world, it has become an iconic landmark in Auckland's skyline unique design. The tower is part of the SkyCity Auckland casino complex built in 1994–1997 for Harrah's Entertainment. Several upper levels are accessible to the public; the Sky Tower has several upper levels that are accessible to the public: Level 50: Sky Lounge Level 51: Main Observation Deck Level 52: Orbit 360° Dining Level 53: The Sugar Club restaurant, SkyWalk and SkyJump Level 60: Sky DeckThe upper portion of the tower contains two restaurants and a cafe—including New Zealand's only revolving restaurant, located 190 m from the ground, which turns 360 degrees every hour. There is a brasserie-style buffet located one floor above the main observatory level.
It has three observation decks at different heights, each providing 360-degree views of the city. The main observation level at 186 m has 38 mm thick glass sections of flooring giving a view straight to the ground; the top observation deck labeled "Skydeck" sits just below the main antenna at 220 m and gives views of up to 82 km in the distance. The tower features the "SkyJump", a 192-metre jump from the observation deck, during which a jumper can reach up to 85 km/h; the jump is guide-cable-controlled to prevent jumpers from colliding with the tower in case of wind gusts. Climbs into the antenna mast portion are possible for tour groups, as is a walk around the exterior; the tower is used for telecommunications and broadcasting with the Auckland Peering Exchange being located on Level 48. The aerial at the top of the tower hosts the largest FM combiner in the world which combines with 58 wireless microwave links located above the top restaurant to provide a number of services; these include television, wireless internet, RT, weather measurement services.
The tower is Auckland's primary FM radio transmitter, is one of four infill terrestrial television transmitters in Auckland, serving areas not covered by the main transmitter at Waiatarua in the Waitakere Ranges. A total of twenty-three FM radio stations and six digital terrestrial television multiplexes broadcast from the tower. Two VHF analogue television channels broadcasting from the tower were switched off in the early hours of Sunday 1 December 2013 as part of New Zealand's digital television transition. H = Horizontal V = Vertical The following table contains television and radio frequencies operating from the Sky Tower: Fletcher Construction was the contracted builder for the project while engineering firm Beca Group provided the design management and coordination, geotechnical, mechanical, plumbing and fire engineering services. Harrison Grierson provided surveying services, it was designed by Gordon Moller of Craig Craig Moller architects and has received a New Zealand Institute of Architects National Award as well as regional awards.
The Project Architect was Les Dykstra. Taking two years and nine months to construct, the tower was opened on 3 August 1997; the tower is constructed of high-performance reinforced concrete. Its 12-metre diameter shaft is supported on eight "legs" based on 16 foundation piles drilled over 12 m deep into the local sandstone; the main shaft was built using climbing formwork. The upper levels were constructed from composite materials, structural steel, precast concrete and reinforced concrete, the observation decks clad in aluminium with blue/green reflective glass. A structural steel framework supports the upper mast structure. During construction 15,000 cubic metres of concrete, 2,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel, 660 tonnes of structural steel were used; the mast weighs over 170 tonnes. It had to be lifted into place using a crane attached to the structure, as it would have been too heavy for a helicopter to lift. To remove the crane, another crane had to be constructed attached to the upper part of the Sky Tower structure, which dismantled the big crane, was in turn dismantled into pieces small enough to fit into the elevator.
The tower is designed to withstand wind in excess of 200 km/h and designed to sway up to 1 metre in excessively high winds. As a safety precaution the Sky Tower’s lifts have special technology installed to detect movement and will automatically slow down. If the building sway exceeds predetermined safety levels the lifts will return to the ground floor and remain there until the high winds and building sway have abated; the Sky Tower is built to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake located within a 20-kilometre radius. There are three fireproof rooms on levels 44, 45, 46 to provide refuge in the event of an emergency, while the central service lift shaft and stairwells are fire-safety rated. SkyCity Auckland lights the Sky Tower to show support for a range of charities. Common lighting events include: The top half of the Sky Tower is lit by energy efficient LED lighting which replaced the original metal halide floodlights in May 2009; the LEDs can produce millions of different colour combinations controlled by a computer system.
The original lights used 66 per cent more energy than the current LED
