Author: Barnaby Coxon

As we settle into the new year of 2025, significant progress has been made on the site of Latimer Church’s future home. Regular Project Control Group meetings are taking place each month to review the project’s status, receive updates on milestones, and address any items needing clarification. With the demolition completed in late 2024, heavy machinery has been preparing the site, and the large screw piles are now being driven into the ground by the piling rigs.

We recently had Thomas Coker come out onto the site with his drone to capture some amazing footage of the works going on. We will endeavor to periodically capture progress in this way to keep the congregation updated. You can see the most recent video here:

At our recent Unite service, we updated the congregation on fundraising progress. Praise God that we are 93% of the way towards our goal of $16.3m, with only $1.1m to go! If you would still like to donate towards the project, please click here.

Here are some key milestones achieved so far:

• Demolition: All existing buildings have been demolished, and asbestos and contaminated soils have been safely removed.
• Hall Preparation: Work has begun on preparing the existing hall, which is being retained, including the removal of all paneling and bracing of the structure.
• Grid Set-Out: The grid set-out is in place, ready for the piling rig to begin work.
• Environmental Report: We’ve received an environmental report.
• Site Inspection: The first building site inspection has been successfully completed.

Looking ahead, key activities scheduled for the next month include:

• Water Supply and Power: Installation of the water supply and temporary builder’s power.
• Building Platform and Piling: Completion of the building platform, with the piling rig arriving onsite.
• Design Review: Colors and finishings packages will be sent to the church for review and approval.
• Tree trimming: Trimming of trees around the site to ensure unhindered access for heavy vehicles.

As the end of 2024 approaches, we have much to be thankful for in the Rosebank building project. A huge amount of work has been completed over the past year. Three years after purchasing the Rosebank site, we’ve officially handed it over to local construction firm HRS, marking a significant milestone. Much of the site has already been prepared, and we are set to begin installing screw piles in the new year. In addition, we’ve received full building consent from the council, allowing us to proceed at full speed.

Christmas reminds us of how much we have to look forward to in the new space, which will better accommodate Latimer’s growing congregation. Our new facility will not only serve the increasing number of adults attending but will also provide much-needed space for our thriving kids and youth ministries. We’re also incredibly thankful for the generous support of our friends at Rutland St Church and Majestic, who have kindly provided us with facilities to host our services in the meantime.

Looking ahead to 2025, we’ll see a shift in our role with the building project. Now that we’ve handed over site control to the contractor, we’ve engaged local firm Joseph’s as project managers to guide us through our contractual obligations and ensure the project is delivered as expected. As we prepare for the transition to Rosebank in early to mid-2026, our focus will turn to planning the operational shift, securing the necessary fitout, and ensuring all equipment is in place to meet Latimer’s needs. At the same time, the Trust will continue to monitor the project’s cashflow to ensure everything stays on track.

We are grateful for so many prayers from our church community, and offer a couple of prayer points for the project as we head into 2025.

• For rest and recuperation for the Trustees, and project team over the Christmas season.
• That God would prevent any significant delays or hiccups in the project program as it gets underway
• That God would continue to provide the finances needed to complete the project, and that the Trustees would be wise in seeking out any further funding.
• That we would take every opportunity to witness to those involved in the project who don’t yet know the Lord, including those in the Belfast/Northwood area
• For our Latimer leadership – giving thanks for their focus on the Word, and that they would continue to lead us faithfully in the new year, avoiding any unnecessary distractions by the project

On Wednesday 30th October, we officially handed over the Rosebank site to local building firm HRS. This was a big occasion, marked by representatives of the Church Trust and project staff attending a pre-handover meeting to not only discuss the practicalities of the handover process, but pray over the site and the upcoming building works.

We are still waiting on building consent to be received from the council, there is one technical request for information regarding the caps for the piling that requires some more input from an engineer. We are praying that this will be closed out as soon as possible so the construction programme can get underway, or that council will provide approval for us to undertake demolition works, knowing that we will resolve the issue.

A special meeting was held by Latimer Church on Sunday 27th October with the aim of the Latimer Church Trustees to determine the support of the congregation to take a loan out of up to $2m if needed. The church were presented before the meeting with a project overview document, that details the history of the project in its various phases, as well as a summary of what the meeting was for. This can be found here. Many questions were asked during this meeting, and it ended with the vast majority support to proceed with the contract, understanding that if necessary a loan may need to be sought.

As Latimer will be moving to a new area of the city (Belfast), starting with the construction of a new building which may be disturbing to the neighbors, we will be doing a letter drop to everyone in the community to introduce ourselves and tell them who we are and what is happening! If you would like to assist with this mail drop, please email barnaby@latimerchurch.nz

Detailed Design Update:

Praise God that as of Tuesday morning on the 2^nd of July 2024, the final documents of the detailed design process have been completed and submitted to the council for building consent! A package is being put together over the next few days which will be sent to the tendering firms so they can get started on the process of presenting Latimer with a proposal to construct the building.

The consultants and our architect Harvey Duncan have put in a monumental effort to get us to this point and this week marks a crucial step forward as we prepare to transition into the construction phase. Your continued prayers and support during this time are greatly appreciated as we navigate these final stages of planning.

Screw Piles Arrival:

Exciting news regarding our construction materials: the “screw piles” have been loaded into several containers and are scheduled to arrive in the country by mid-July (they are currently moored across the ditch in Botany). These piles are essential for the foundation of our new building, and their arrival will bring us one step closer to breaking ground. There are a total of 89 piles, each going down into the ground more than 20 meters!

Fundraising Progress:

Our fundraising efforts continue, and we are grateful for the generosity shown by our community so far. To date, we have raised $11.5 million of the $14.4 million needed to complete the “base build” of our new church home. While we still have a way to go, we are confident that with continued dedication and prayer, we can reach our goal. Please consider how you might contribute to this vital project – perhaps purchasing one (or some) of the piles which cost approximately $7.5k each.

For more information on how to support the project, please visit our fundraising page, or to ask any questions, please email barnaby@latimerchurch.nz.

Thank you for your unwavering support and commitment to Latimer Church. We are excited to see how God will continue to guide and bless this project

As 2023 draws to a close, the Rosebank project hits another milestone in the progress towards construction. In early December we received the “developed design” coordination drop, meaning that the design team (including our Architect Harvey Duncan and the rest of the consultants) have consolidated all of their various design areas into a single coordinated design. This will be the design set which will launch the push towards the final “detailed design” set early next year which will be used to seek building consent and tender.

This process has drilled even more into the detail, looking at things like lighting, surface finishes, storage sizes and requirements for things like chairs or trestle tables.

Along with this design set, we have received some updated 3d renders of the building which you will see below.

As we continue to entrust this project to God and rely on his provision for the funds to complete it, we are incredibly encouraged by the generosity of the Latimer community and those outside who are financially committing to seeing the Kingdom grow in Christchurch through this new facility. If you would like to pledge or donate to this project, please visit the fundraising page. We ask for your continued prayer for the provision of the necessary funds to move into the next phase of construction in the new year.

The last several months have seen us progressing well through the detailed design stage. A few months ago we moved through the “preliminary” stage of detailed design, and are now starting to develop the details even further. We have held several meetings with stakeholder groups to ensure that the design of the building matches the ways we see it being used for ministry and the benefit of Gods Kingdom.

We are also currently in the second fundraising campaign for the Latimer congregation. This is the final push to raise a further $2m to fund the project. Praise God that $1.35m has been pledged/donated so far from 127 families/households.

If you would like to donate or pledge to the project, please visit https://build.latimerchurch.nz/fundraising/.

We will also be having a final working bee on the Rosebank site on Saturday 4th November from 9am. We would love a big turn out for this, with many tasks to do including cleaning, packing, shifting and gardening. You can sign up here.

The detailed design phase is getting well under way with the design team of architect, project staff and consultants working through various components of detail within the building. Currently much of the focus is on the auditorium, balancing all of the pieces together including mechanical systems (airflow), acoustics and visuals, lighting and windows to name a few. At the bottom of this update is an image of the current iteration of the south facing windows which is a finned system, not only does this provide diffused light into the auditorium and the ability to black out if need be, but it also provides a mechanism to stay within the acoustic bleed confines set out by the resource consent.

We also recently launched our final fundraising campaign for the Latimer Church community. This is a $2 million campaign to get the project over the line and provide the board with assurance that they can enter the tendering phase with the completed project budget of $13 million.

Please visit build.latimerchurch.nz/fundraising to find out more

February of 2023 has seen two milestones of the project.

Firstly, we have received resource consent approval for the application we put in to the council. Praise God for this fantastic news as it keeps the project moving and provides us with helpful guidance from the council to make informed decisions during the detailed design phase.

Secondly, we have officially broken ground at Rosebank and had the first digger on site! To be clear this is not the main building works which will God willing be starting later on this year, but some work that needed to be done to create a stormwater system along the North side of the main parking lot.

Praise God that we have seen some exciting momentum at the start of the year, please continue to pray for our consultants and project leaders as they get stuck into the detailed design of the new building, and for the Latimer Church congregation as we prayerfully enter into a time of fundraising $2m towards the project.

We recently held a Church meeting to share with the Latimer congregation the concept plans recommended by the Latimer Trust.

If you missed the evening you can find a recorded video below.

We also have a copy of the powerpoint presentation which can be found here

The Latimer Build Project Board were recently presented with both initial concept design plans and a report from the Quantity Surveyor (providing an initial budget estimate for the concept). This is the first target of work from many people over the last several months, and we give God glory and praise for getting us to this point and providing the people and expertise to move this project forwards.

Unsurprisingly given the state of the current building industry, the estimate came back higher than anticipated in the original project brief. While it does mean we need to re-look at some parts of the project, is a good point in the project to be getting this sort of feedback in order that we can adjust and firm up on both the concept and budget.

The Project Board provided the project build team with some direction during their last meeting which lays out the work needing to be done over the next few months;

Firstly; clarifying a budget limit for the project cost in light of the initial concept design and related QS report. This provides the project build team with clear updated parameters to work with, but also ensures that funds raised (and to be raised) are stewarded well.

Secondly; requesting that the Project Build team work over the next few months to provide the Board with design options that still achieve the primary purpose of the project as set out by the brief while staying within budget. The primary purpose here is best described as “function over form” – making sure that the core elements of the building (size, layout etc…) serve the mission of Latimer Church, and “not just us, not just now” – ensuring that consideration is given to future generations using the buildings.

Please pray for us as we work through these elements, that the Lord will continue to guide and support us.

Geoff Banks (Project Director)