Often described as the 'father of ductile design' in New Zealand, John Hollings was the creator of capacity design. He was a graduate from the University of Canterbury and pioneer of earthquake engineering in New Zealand. Some of his peers considered him the most innovative Kiwi engineer of his generation. In 1968 his firm merged with the Auckland based consultancy to become Beca, Carter, Hollings and Ferner.
He gave an address in May 1968 to the University of Canterbury when he introduced the concept of what came to be referred to as 'capacity design' of reinforced concrete structures, a concept further developed by Professors Park and Paulay at the University of Canterbury. Wellington's 16-storey Jerningham Apartments was New Zealand's first building to adopt the technique.
The apartments are on a one-acre site in Wellington's Oriental Bay. The achieve the best financial return, the maximum possible number of flats had to be fitted on to the site. To meet town planning requirememts, this meant a tall building with 15 floors of flats (four and five flats per floor) over a ground floor of parking.
The construction company, Wilkins and Davies, favoured a slip form core with a lift slab floor system. However, compared to the capacity design it would cost approximately pounds? 100,000 more, mainly because of the extra foundation cost required to stabilise the tall, narrow trower.
The capacity design comprises beamless flat plate floors (to get the maximum number of floors within the town planning height limit) and, for the necessary earthquake resistance, a strong frame system is provided all round the building's perimeter with all plastic deformation designed to occur in the beams not the columns.
The apartment's initial design was changed to N.Z.S.S. 1900 Chapter 8 code levels when it became available, which more than doubled the design loads. The ductile design was innovate for its time and has mention in numerous online articles including the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, NZ Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission pg 40.
Foyer - Dom. Post of November 23, 1966.
A special feature of the foyer of Jerningham apartments is the magnificent oil painting depicting Oriental Bay, looking from Point Jerningham, as it would have appeared in pre-European times. This dramatic work of art by the prominent New Zealand artist Don Neilson is based on early references of Oriental Bay housed in the Alexander Turnbull Library. Commissioned by Wilkins and Davies Devemopment Company to record history in a dramatic and realistic manner, it breaks away from the murual symbolism usually used in large buildings in that it is historically accurate, painted in ageless materials and is an eceptionally fine work of art. By so re-capturing the atmosphere and life of Oriental Bay before Europeans arrived to fell the bush, road the area and build, this outstanding painting is a permanent interest note gracing Jerningham.