Papakura City 4-Sided Clock 2008 
We were asked to design and produce a replacement for the 4-sided clock in the town square in Papakura, Auckland.Specifications included a stainless steel open face design with high grade long life movements and control electronics of a high standard.. This approach presented some special challenges such as 30-year UV rated clock dials and hands.A unique feature of the clock was to be the Titoki Leaf cut-out in the base which floods the tower with special effects lighting during hours of darkness.
Ross Ransom of Rinnon Products
in Dunedin, fabricating the frame
Steve Gawn from Signbroker in Christchurch produced the clock dials
(seen here with helpers!).
A night-shot of the extended
stress-testing of the final design.
For transportation from Waimate to Auckland, we carried everything in/on one vehicle as the risk of damage by regular freight was too high. Pictures show loading, entering the roll-on ferry terminal at Picton, in the vehicle bay, a view forward from the ferry bow of the scenic Marlborough Sounds passage, a late evening arrival view of Wellingron Harbour and a scenic view of MT Egmont on the trip north the following morning.
An early morning shot of the general site in Papakura with tower scaffolding in place. An aerial view shows the general scene from the roof of the adjacent carpark as tradespeople began to arrive. On the right, Nicola Mochrie, Manager Strategic Projects at the PDC checks on progress
Elliot is polishing the bug smear off the clock frame after unloading.
Justin McSweeney from JM Electrical (assisted by Clint Eastwood) enters the electrical basement of the tower to begin the electrical installation process for the new power circuit to the clock while Chris Bird, Chief Engineer for the PDC takes over the role as operator of the Cherry-Picker to lift materials up to Elliot on the tower structure.
Other pictures show Garth and Elliot assembling the clock once it had been secured in its final mount position.
It was a long day and installation continued into the night. While Clint completed terminations up at the clock, Justin is seen drilling concrete at the base of the tower to bring the data cable from the clock into the electrical room for connection to the Master Controller.
After this phase of the job was completed, the Controller was programmed so that the clock faces began to synchronise to the real time.
The clock was finally commissioned about midnight. The pictures show it in correction mode and fully illuminated. The scaffolding had to remain in place as there was further work scheduled for the lower tower to improve its aesthetics. Eventually we will obtain pictures of the finished project when the full tower makeover has been completed.
Credits Due:
Papakura District Council - (Nicola and Chris)
Rinnon Products of Dunedin - clock frame + clock hands (Ross)
Prometal Industries of Christchurch - stainless steel art work (precision laser cutting was awesome to watch), acid treatment and polishing.
Designwork of Christchurch - Acrylic artwork (Steve was the only person we could find who was able to meet the customer specs)
Ideal Electrical of Timaru - lighting supplies (Martin worked hard to source exactly what we wanted)
Fulton Hogan of Papakura - machinery provision ( they were late so Hirequip equipment was sourced).
JM Electrical of Papakura - Tower 230v cabling & data installation (Jason and Clint were great guys to work with)
Clock-O-Matic of Belgium who manufactured the clock movements and control electronics to our specifications (Guido and Ivan who gave us priority).
Misc:
While in Papakura we stayed at the Takanini Park Motor Lodge - basic, comfortable, clean, very adequate for our purposes.
Good eats on the run - Red Rooster of Papakura, Grandmas Roasts in Palmerston North, Top Spot Restaurant in Blenheim.
Bluebridge Ferries - MV Santa Regina (old movies + suggest bring your own food).