Being the Southern Hemisphere’s largest spanning timber arch, the Hangar is a monumental feat and the result of meticulous planning, coordination and execution for which the project team can celebrate.
Chair of the Hyne Group and James Jones & Sons Group, Tom Bruce-Jones said,
“I am immensely proud of all stakeholders involved with this project. The structure stands as a testament to innovative, creative thinking and exemplifies the versatility of wood as a construction material.
“By embracing timber as a core material, we are not only delivering architectural excellence but championing sustainable construction practices.”
When Air New Zealand decided to build its new Hangar 4 at Auckland Airport, the brief was clear: it had to combine scale, performance, and sustainability. The result? The largest free-spanning timber arch in the Southern Hemisphere and the first mass timber aircraft maintenance hangar anywhere in the world.
Spanning 100 metres in length, with 97 metres of clearance and soaring 35.6 metres high, this landmark project demonstrates just what precision-engineered timber, smart design, and close collaboration can achieve.
XLAM’s General Manager, Keith Knox said XLAM was a proud supplier as part of the full Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach,
“The DfMA approach enabled us to adopt a highly structured, early-manufacture and pre-assembly process to ensure the project met the numerous programme constraints—both onsite and across the wider supply chain and logistics.
“With the XLAM proposed arch design, close collaboration with project partners was essential to successfully deliver this impressive, world-first including our engagement of structural engineers, Dunning Thornton.
“To prove the concept, we built a full-scale prototype purlin section, allowing the team to see the precision and scale firsthand, providing confidence that the design could be realised safely and efficiently.” Keith said.
Read the full project summary.
