Starting upstairs

It is hard to believe that in nine or ten short weeks we will be in Te Takere.  It will be worth the wait to move into our exciting new place. 

Work has begun on the children's library side putting through a new door into Te Takere, all the non-fiction books against the wall have been moved so the builders can set up another "pod" to construct a fire proof door.

At the moment the veranda in front of the current library is getting a makeover with old panelling being pulled down. 

The view from the newspaper reading section of the library is quite surreal with scaffolding across the windows.

The brilliant new strip lighting is blazing its way across Te Takere. 

So!  This is what's happening behind the fiction shelves.  A curved tunnel with a firedoor will extend into the current library space. 

 

 

And it's finally happening, the outside waka walkways are being finished off with lovely wooden strips.

Holes in the wall

It is getting really exciting now!  As we were rapidly moving fiction books aside this morning a hole appeared in the wall from Te Takere. 









I raced to get the camera and take a shot of our temporary glimpse into the future.  I actually got photos from both sides of the action!  This is from the current library side.

This view from Te Takere side.  The builder is using a jack hammer to create the hole.  No wonder we were moving books!  This is where a large fire door will be between the old and new sections.

The stunning new strip lighting is in and arranged in a diagonal patterns across the ceiling.  These strip lights are across the whole Te Takere area including upstairs.

Giant woodpeckers?

This morning when I got to work the woodpeckers (well concrete choppers) were under the floor again!  Our contractors are actually being very considerate as most of the really loud work is being done before and after library opening hours.
Staff are all chuckling about the earth moving!  At least we know what is causing our floors to shake and walls to rattle and we know it will stop!



Once the old public loos have been gutted the space, which is surprisingly large, will be converted into two state of the art classrooms.  Just the spot for some night classes or to hold some interesting lecture series.

Please don't walk on that floor yet!

Today it was great to see the lovely timber flooring that has been laid in the shape of a waka.  We will have two timber floor areas, one either side of the tiled open centre space.

Painting has finished in the large meeting room.  The pale walls make the room seem even more spacious.

Work is coming along apace in the outside garden area.  We are grateful to the Horowhenua Chinese association for sponsoring this part of the project.  The birth of a dragon shows the beginning phase of the dragon sculpture that will be a feature of the garden.  


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Outside of Levin library the scaffolding is up for the garden and along the verandah of the old building where the new facade will be.  Eventually the whole combined old supermarket and existing library will look like one continuous building.



Downstairs below our workroom demolition has been going on inside the old public toilets.  It's noisy and it rattles us around a bit in the office.  Customers wonder what is going on - but it's progress!

An outside performance space?

This morning the trucks arrived to pour the concrete for the apron in front of the grand entrance.  Once this has been completed there will be a raised area in front of the wide western side doors which will make a perfect stage for outside performances and events.  Sheltered between the outside concrete waka panels with a decking area either side it will make a great 'outside room'.

What an exercise to get the concrete in to place!  Long hoses and pumps and lots of men screeding off the surface as fast as they could all the while taking care not to cover the strips that represent the mooring ropes for our waka.

The upstairs mezzanine looks so spacious now that the windows and skylights are letting in the light and most of the building materials have been cleared away This will become a quiet upstairs reading and study space where serious students will be able to work in comfort with a wonderful overview of the downstairs area.

The long window will give a tempting glimpse down into the garden that will be outside the East lounge window.

It's still a hive of industry inside.  Electricians, tilers, painters, carpenters all a busy as bees getting the job done. The light fittings look great and there are spotlights installed above one area which will make it easy to highlight special exhibitions.

Doors, leaning against the wall in a long row are all waiting to be installed.  I suspect it is a serious logistical challenge co-ordinating all of the individual trades to make sure they don't hold each other up.

Timber framing which will become part of the wall for the beautiful Chinese themed garden on our South West corner is waiting to be erected. - As the saying goes - it's all coming together nicely!