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Post-Fire Evaluation of the New Zealand International Convention Centre

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Abstract

In October 2019, the largest fire in a commercial building in New Zealand since 1947 burned for over ten days through the roof and upper floor of the 120 m wide × 100 m long New Zealand International Convention Centre, which was under construction and nearing completion at the time. The steel composite and reinforced concrete framed building features five storeys above grade of structural steel framing with composite floors, comprising heavy, intricate steel work that was impacted by the fire. The main steel structure performed very well in response to fire exposure ranging from low to severe, with minimal damage and distortion to the heavy steel roof members in general, considering the severity of the fire. Secondary steel angles, tubular steel, and wide-flange members at the roof elevation were locally more heavily distorted. A very detailed post-fire evaluation of the structure was carried out, comprising mapping of the fire effects, deflections, metallurgical changes, extensive numerical modelling, and full scale in-situ experimental testing. The outcome resulted in retention of over 95% of the total roof steelwork (2500 tonnes). This paper provides an overview of the fire and the key steps involved in the post-fire structural evaluation of this unique fire case history.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to SkyCity, the owner of the NZICC, for permission to publish this work. Acknowledgement and gratitude go to the contributors from Beca Engineering, Fletcher Construction Company, SkyCity, Holmes Fire, The University of Auckland, SGS, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger and Culham Engineering for the many hours of effort they applied over several years. Thanks go to Fanqin Meng who summarised past fire investigation work on similar case histories to illustrate how our investigation is consistent with the state-of-the-art.

Funding

This research was supported by The Fletcher Construction Company Ltd.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    G. Charles Clifton

  2. Civil and Envionmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Lucas Hogan, Max T. Stephens & Fanqin Meng

  3. Holmes Australia LP, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Linus Lim

  4. Holmes New Zealand LP, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Peter Nguyen & Martin Feeney

  5. Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Boston, MA, USA

    Guzhao Li, Emily R. McCarthy & Paul B. Summers

  6. Industries and Environment, SGS New Zealand Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand

    Alistair Remmington

  7. Industrial NDT and Materials, SGS New Zealand Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand

    Leonard King

  8. The Fletcher Construction Company, Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand

    Gordon Carle, Ryan Clifton & Neha Raphael

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  1. G. Charles Clifton
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  2. Lucas Hogan
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  3. Max T. Stephens
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  5. Linus Lim
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  8. Guzhao Li
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  9. Emily R. McCarthy
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  13. Gordon Carle
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  14. Ryan Clifton
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  15. Neha Raphael
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Correspondence to G. Charles Clifton.

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Clifton, G.C., Hogan, L., Stephens, M.T. et al. Post-Fire Evaluation of the New Zealand International Convention Centre. Fire Technol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-023-01516-2

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