As the manufacturers of Accoya wood, Accsys supported the New Brighton Surf and Life Saving Club (SLSC) in Christchurch, New Zealand with a donation of Accoya wood to use for the cladding and decking and Tricoya for the soffit lining of their new building.

The SLSC funding was a 50/50 split between Accsys and their valuable local stakeholders ITI Timspec. As Accoya approved distributors, ITI Timspec also supported the project heavily with development.

The New Brighton SLSC is the oldest surf and lifesaving club in New Zealand and provides a safe, fun, and strong environment for members and the wider community. It provides impact to the local community through a volunteer surf lifeguard patrol service at New Brighton beach with its dedicated lifeguards rostered on patrol duties for approximately 6 weekend days each, spread over the summer season.

This new club was designed by Ken Powrie at South by Southeast Architects who are local to Christchurch. They incorporated an area to allow people to sit under shelter and watch the sea, as well as additional clubrooms to host community classes, weddings, and other functions. This was made possible as the local council granted resource consent and the new building is now much larger than the previous one.

It was important for the New Brighton SLSC to have a sustainable, non-toxic, and extremely durable weatherboard solution due to the constant and harsh natural elements of the marine environment. The Accoya donation was welcomed for having these features and properties amongst many others.

Accoya weatherboards and decking and Tricoya soffit linings were left uncoated to weather naturally.

2022 Canterbury Architecture Awards winner. A celebration of the region’s best architecture in Ōtautahi Christchurch.