Let there be light!

We have been a little concerned that there might not be sufficient natural light inside Te Takere.  How wrong we were!  This morning, even though it isn't sunny the light poured in through the newly glazed windows.  The East lounge at the back of the building has one wall that is almost entirely glass.  What a lovely morning room that is going to be.

The murals on the wall look wonderful.  On the West side (carpark end) of the North wall the mural starts with sea birds, sand dunes and flax bushes.  then as we move Eastwards towards the rear of the building the mountains backdrop begins and the the silhouettes are bush and forest.  Just lovely.  We love the subtle colours too.

Some of the tall panels now have their beautiful timber facings.  These panels will all be able to have cases and/or screens installed in them for exhibitions or displays and are going to be a major feature once we open.  They also make great 'room dividers' which prevent the huge open space from becoming too overwhelming.

We are looking forward to having a purpose built space for book returns and for managing service for our Homelink users.

Framework for the Chinese garden is now coming along.  Now we can really see just how big this area is going to be.  So exciting!  It will be a lovely spot to sit and have lunch.

All I can say is roll on summer!

Now its really taking shape!

I've been on leave for a couple of weeks and Beth has been making the weekly visit to Te Takere.  I've been keeping an eye on this blog but it was great to go back in there today and see more amazing progress.

The outside of the building looks great now that the windows have been installed.  It's going to be lovely looking out on to the Chinese garden space.  At the moment it looks like a building site with lots of rubble but just imagine it by summer time...

With all of the waka panel frames up the space is divided into its main areas.  Now we can see just how big the central open space will be and start dreaming of the wonderful things we can do there.  The frames will be covered with lovely wooden panels to complete our dividing wall effect  In this shot the scissor hoist is in the centre of what will be a wide open space.

The wall murals are well under way - what a great way to disguise concrete blocks.  Using our lovely mountains as a theme and bringing them inside is inspired I think.  Wendy Hodder still has an enormous amount of painting to do but what she has done so far is great.

With glass in the windows and the walls of the office spaces the whole place feels lighter and bigger and it's pretty obvious from the wiring hanging down from the ceiling in the larger office space that it is going to be a well set up high-tech meeting room that will be an asset to our community

Murals being added to Te Takere

Colour is coming to Te Takere with the painters busy doing the last touches to the air conditioning pipes and the start of the murals by Wendy Hodder.  The murals are appearing on the Northern and Southern walls.  Wendy says it has been quite exciting going up in the painter's scissor hoist to work on the murals. 

   

 Now that the waka panels are in place manouvering between them can be quite a challenge for the scissor hoist operators.






 

The Southern wall showing the murals with the future doors into the current library.  The predominant colours so far include beautiful shades of teal.

Piles of tiles waiting for the tiler to be work within the next couple of weeks on the flooring stage of the project.

 

Windows in Te Takere

What a sight seeing the Waka panels standing in a gentle curve leading into the centre of Te Takere.  The spaces are now more clearly defined.  Excitment is building as we look at where everything will fit in.  The returns area at the mall side of the new space is taking form and the wall has been painted.  Work installing the air conditioning ducts continues. 

Work on what will be the Chinese garden area outside has begun with concrete removed, however the actual garden can't be put in till work on the outside walls is completed.  What an amazing space it will be to relax and enjoy on a sunny day.

The top windows are now in place with the frames set in for the ones at the bottom front.  The idea is now to get the building fully enclosed before the weather really packs up. The plan for the next couple of weeks is to work across from one side to the other finishing of any woodwork needed so the flooring work can begin.

It's all taking shape so fast!

I missed a visit to Te Takere last week so this week it was exciting to see the framework for that first Waka panel in situ.  They told me it was big - it is - and the other  frames are laid out on the floor in position waiting to be bolted upright so we could imagine how beautiful the curved line of panels is going to look.

The panels for the opposite side are lying down on their sides at the other side of what will become the large open centre space.  Now we can get a feel for just how spacious that area is going to be.  Wow!

The framing for the new returns room is up and it too has a lovely curved wall.  So much nicer than straight lines.  Probably a bit of a pain for the builders but I'm sure the end result will be worth it.

The painting and decorating is well under way with much of the plasterwork being done.  The firewall next to the mall has been painted as have all of the high steel trusses.