St Clements Church Restoration, Ahipara

Kiwi Carpentry was selected by Lloyd Macomber of Salmond Reed Architects (Auckland) to restore St Clements Church, Ahipara, in the beautiful Far North. In working with Lloyd and his colleague Rachel, plus John Paitai and the Church committee we started the monumental task of taking this 148-year-old gem apart and rebuilding it.

The first job was to remove all the asbestos cladding, which we contracted a specialist company to take care of. The Asbestos sheeting was covering up the original board and batten cladding.

We then dismantled parts of the old cladding to determine how the original building was constructed. Taking the time to match the original detail as closely as possible, we found markings on some of the original weatherboards with the arched head windows imprinted on them, so we were able to get exact sizes for the new windows.

The Church had some major storm damage in the late 1950s which had been “repaired” by some of the parishioners and local farmers who at the time, and with great intentions, did some makeshift fixes. At this time, the Asbestos cladding was fitted, the original windows removed, and Louvre windows put back in their place.

We replaced the two main side walls and the entire Sanctuary of the church due to rot and woodworm infestation. The roofing Iron was removed along with all the original Kauri sarking which was painstakingly sanded right back to bare wood. It was then reinstalled without the 15 to 20mm gaps in between the boards! The roof was fully insulated, and the new iron installed.

We found some very old photos of the church showing the bell tower at the Western end of the roof and reconstructed that as close as we could to the original shape and reinstalled the Bell to its rightful place.

All the walls were insulated and re-clad using a band sawn face board and batten finish which matched as close as possible to the original detail we found on site. Some of the internal lining had to be replaced due to major woodworm infestation, so we ran tongue and groove boards at our workshop to match the original.

All The joinery was replaced with purpose-made units by our joinery team. The original sanctuary window was taken to the workshop and restored with jamb and mullion extensions, plus a new hardwood sill. The stained-glass window was designed by one of the committee members (who has whānau buried at the church), incorporating some local history.

Kiwi Carpentry has a passion for re-purposing as much timber as possible. We salvaged a lot of the original weatherboard material to make all the finishing lines inside, handcrafted to match the original detail and finished using Osmo Oil.

The original furniture was stripped and polished using the Coopers Restoration system, and the pews were treated with special care to not lose the “Artwork” that had been carved into the backs of them. This included the grandparents and great grandparents of some of the current parishioners. The oldest dating back to 1912!

At the re-dedication of the church, we were complimented on the re-build and the Bishop praised the work as the best rebuild he has seen.

Kiwi Carpentry have a passion for restoration work, craftsmanship and getting the details right. You can be sure that your restoration project will be in safe hands.