Developed for purchasers with a limited budget, Ilico consists of 65 one and two-bedroom apartments over five levels in the newly established suburb of Stonefields in Auckland. There are two vertical circulation cores servicing boardwalks at each level, in turn, providing bridge access to each apartment.

All the apartments have either a North facing apartment or balcony, with shading and privacy provided by metal screening. These lightweight balconies and boardwalks create depth and shadow, break down the building mass and ensure a high level of articulation along the facades.

The boardwalks and balcony were installed as bolt-together sections with all steel components made up off-site in consultation with Perry Metal Protection to ensure all sections can fit inside the galvanising bath. Once coated with molten zinc, these were prepared for painting with a duplex system of epoxy paint.

The design was chosen for easy transportation and installation on site. Any touch-ups can be made with ease as the base metal has a solid protective coating of zinc from the galvanising process. As box section profiles were part of the design, the inside and outside of the steel are protected which is unique to batch hot-dip galvanising.

The benefits of a structure designed for and galvanised by Perry Metal Protection are:

• Ease of installation with bolt-together prefabricated sections saving time and transport costs
• Costs benefits associated with smaller crane requirements and the fact the structure can be bolted to an existing building
• A similar structure to fabricated, painted and installed in today’s market rates has been estimated at $6000 per ton from market feedback
• As other steel components in this apartment building are using a similar coating system (Duplex Galv and paint) the ongoing maintenance schedules can align