Delivering a Control Building for Watercare’s New Wastewater Treatment Plant

A-Line delivered the single-level control building for Watercare’s new wastewater treatment plant at Snells Beach, working alongside main contractor Brian Perry Civil, who handled the civil works and foundations.

A-Line’s scope was the building itself: manufactured off-site in A-Line’s Whangārei factory, then delivered and installed on site.

The plant was still under construction while the building was being built and delivered. The control building was also required as part of the plant’s commissioning, so it needed to arrive on programme without disrupting a busy, live construction site.

What’s Inside

The building totals 204m² across 14 individual modules, ranging between 2.8m and 4.3m (with some modules at 2.8m x 5.9m), with a maximum height of 3.6m.

The finished building includes:

• A cafeteria and meeting room, separated by a sliding partition wall that opens the two spaces into one when needed
• Office space
• A control room, serving as the operational hub for the wider site
• A small laboratory for on-site water testing
• A network room
• A toilet/ablution block and laundry 

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Why the Building Was Delivered in 14 Modules

A-Line typically goes as large as the transport envelope allows when designing modular buildings, which keeps the number of modules and on-site joins down. Snells Beach called for a different approach.

Access to the site is via a single haul road, and the control building sits at the main entry, on a construction site with the wider plant still being built. A small number of large modules would have been harder to bring in and place without disrupting that work. A-Line’s design team developed a bespoke solution of 14 smaller modules, sized around the site’s access constraints so each could be delivered and installed with minimal impact on the plant’s construction.

Modular Delivery on
a Live Construction Site

Because most of the building work happened off-site in A-Line’s Whangārei factory, the time spent on site came down to delivery and installation. On a busy site with many disciplines working at once, that limited the impact on the surrounding work, which is the core advantage of the modular model.

Site access was the main thing to plan around. Transport and logistics were worked through against the single haul road and the building’s position at the main entry, so the modules could be delivered and placed with minimal disruption.

Why Modular for This Project

A turnkey modular solution was the right fit for the project and the client. It reduced the impact and disruption on site. Because the control building was required for the plant’s commissioning, off-site manufacture meant it was delivered ready to install, rather than built piece by piece on a congested site. As a turnkey package, A-Line managed all of its own subcontractors on site, simplifying coordination and removing responsibility for these works from the main contractor.

In A-Line’s Own Words

“A-Line delivered a bespoke modular offering to meet the high quality and performance requirements of Watercare’s new Wastewater Treatment Plant. The building was delivered on time without major disruption to an extremely busy, live construction site, with exceptional care taken during installation while working to tight tolerances. The successful delivery of this project shows what can be done with the modular construction model.” - Shaun Overton, Project Manager

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Snells Beach control building?
It’s a single-level, 204m² bespoke modular control building A-Line delivered for Watercare’s new Snells Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant. Manufactured in A-Line’s Whangārei factory in 14 modules, it includes a control room, laboratory, network room, office space, cafeteria, meeting room and ablution facilities.

Why was the building delivered in 14 modules?
Site access. A-Line usually designs modular buildings as large as the transport envelope allows, but a single haul road and the building’s position at the main entry called for smaller modules, to reduce disruption to the plant under construction.

Can modular buildings be installed on a live construction site?
Yes. At Snells Beach, A-Line manufactured the building off-site and delivered it to a busy, live construction site, where it was installed with minimal disruption to the work around it. The building was also required for the plant’s commissioning.

Why was modular used for this project?
A modular offering reduced the impact and disruption on site and on the wider project, because most of the building work was done off-site.

Who did what on the project?
A-Line manufactured the building in its Whangārei factory and installed it on site. Brian Perry Civil delivered the civil works, foundations and on-site connections.