BRANZ Campus Redevelopment

The Building Research Association’s (BRANZ’s) national testing and research campus is transforming. The staged demolition of several buildings on site is making way for the construction of a new state-of-the-art facility comprising a 7,300 sq ft fire testing laboratory, a 1,700 sq ft structures laboratory, a 1,400 sq ft storage facility, and a 2,600 sq ft administration building.

The new fire and structures facilities will support innovative research and full-scale testing, and enable BRANZ scientists to better simulate real-world conditions. In addition to enhancing BRANZ's testing capabilities, the upgrade will also contribute to the improvement of current emissions by incorporating a wet scrubber.

RCP has carried out extensive stakeholder engagement throughout the design phases to ensure the needs of all interested parties are identified and met, delicate testing requirements are safeguarded and BRANZ’s operational standards are achieved.

Importantly, the existing BRANZ facility had to remain operational for the program’s duration. RCP’s detailed planning and staging have allowed for the decant, demolition, and enabling works, followed by construction and commissioning of the new buildings, to occur with no disruption.

The timing and coordination for procuring specialist equipment was carefully calculated to inform the fabrication and delivery windows and to ensure installation and commissioning timeframes were maintained.