The Acoustics and Insulation Division was established in 1953 as part of The Fletcher Construction Company.[1] It was to provide a supply, installation and technical advisory and consultancy service on all aspects of acoustics, insulation and anti-condensation materials and methods. This was to include research and development of its own products. The first manager was WH Carlyle and cnosulting engineer was R van Moeuwen. The division manufactured acoustic tiles under licence, brand name Perfotile, Insulwood and applied sprayed limpet asbestos, (SLA). It was an entirely separate operation from the asbestos-cement production of Fletcher Industries, although in 1954 it was proposed to transfer the Acoustics Division to this company.[2]
By 1955 major contracts carried out had included Korma Mills, General Motors (Lower Hutt), Mosgiel Woollen Mills, Christchurch Public Hospital, Auckland City Council Chamber and Oamaru Law Courts. The latter three, and possibly all, of these buildings were treated with SLA. SLA was also used in the ceilings of the Fletcher Holdings office building at Kaiwharawhara in Wellington.
During 1955-56, expansion of sales and installation contracts necessitated more trained operators. Staff were recruited from overseas and training courses in SLA application were run for Acoustic Division personnel.[3] New agency lines were introduced, aluminium insulation was used in the Moerewa freezing works, and pipe lagging and similar types of insulation work were promoted. WH Carlyle retired as manager in 1956.
A major contract for 1957 was the lagging of a pipeline from a geothermal bore to the drying plant at Kawerau and this type of work became a major focus of the division's work.
In 1958 Fletcher Construction built the Odeon Theatre in Queen Street, Auckland, in which major use was made of acoustic tiles and panelling. LSA was used in the roof of the Hermitage at Mt Cook and on internal ceilings.
The Christchurch branch of the Acoustic & Insulation Division carried out all insulation work on the Alliance Freezing Company's new works at Invercargill in 1960. Foamed-polystyrene-pug "developed in [Fletcher's] own laboratories" and cork slabs were used.[4] In the same year a fruit cool store, involving special construction techniques for insulation both internally and externally, was built for the Apple and Pear Board at Rongotai, Wellington.
In 1962 another big contract was carried out in the administration block for NAC at Christchurch International Airport. The acoustic ceiling of composite panels made of hardboard and fibreglass wa manufactured and fixed by the Insulation & Acoustics Division, which had developed the panels.
By 1963 further contracts in Auckland included the Philips & Impey showroom in Great South Road, treated with SLA; various types of plastic and plaster tiles in the Public Library, Takapuna; John Bolton's menswear store, Queen Street; the Beazley Homes sales office, Queen Street; and the lunchroom of South British Insurance, Shortland Street. In the same year Fletcher Construction Pty applied SLA in a building for Charles McDonald-Mead Johnson Pty Ltd at Caringbah NSW.
During 1964 the Fletcher Head Office building at Penrose was refurbished and Insulation and Acoustic Services installed new acoustic ceilings. The also supplied and fixed acoustic ceilings in the ANZ Bank building on Queen and Victoria Streets, Auckland. Techniques used in the construction of this building included the spraying of steel beams with asbestos instead of concrete to reduce weight and earthquake hazards.
The acquisition of Carrier Air Conditioning in 1965 led to rationalisation and restructuring of the Fletcher Construction Company and the formation of Fletcher Mechanical, but Insulation & Acoustic Services remained a separate division. In that year the Christchurch branch supplied 23,000 steel acoustic tiles for the new Otago University Library, while the Auckland branch carried out sub-contracts in the Pakuranga Shopping Centre and a major contract for the Whangarei Harbour Board, the insulation of a butter coolroom block. K234 fibreglass in 2 layers enclosed in a vapour seal of aluminium foil was used to line three rooms. External cladding wa corrugated asbestos cement, and floor insulation was 10 inch cork in 3 layers on a vapour seal of polythene and aluminium foil, with bitumen flood-coat.
The following year, 1966, saw Fletcher Insulation & Acoustic Services products on display at the Wellington Building Centre, among them two new acoustic ceiling tiles cast in plater. These were installed in Auckland City Council's Civic Administration Building; Logan Park Motel, Auckland; the Hume Building, Wellington; and Collinson and Cullingham's showrooms and offices in Palmerston North. Another large contract in 1966 was the installation of suspended ceilings in the offices of maintenance workshops and lagging and sheathing of pipe and duct work at Auckland International Airport.
In 1967, 'Arrowhead' included a feature article on the design, development and use of Flesound 67, one of the new tiles developed by the Insulation & Acoustics Services Division. Buildings in which the tile had been used included the Auckland Savings Bank branches of Manurewa and Whangarei; Auckland Electric Power Board, Newmarket; T & G offices, Wellington; Union Hotel, Napier; and offices for Glaxo Ltd, Palmerston North. The tiles consisted of fibrous plaster cast in an abstract design, having concealed fixing and a fibreglass backing. They were used with the seismigrid suspension system developed by the Division, which featured clips that were self-locking in earthquakes.[5]
Also during 1967, Fletcher Insulation and Acoustic Services carried out extensive insulation work at the Marsden Point Power Station. The insulation was sheathed in aluminium and the work carried out by New Zealand subcontractors. The division expanded its area of operations further by becoming distributors and promoters of oil-fired central heating in co-operation with Zip Industries Ltd, BP (NZ) Ltd and Pump Maintenance (NZ) Ltd. By 1968 the Division had three plants manufacturing tiles and opened another branch in Dunedin. Following the completion of the Marsden Point Project, another major lagging contract began on the Tasman Pulp and Paper Co Ltd No. 2 recovery boilder installation at Kawerau. The division was also ivolved in the construction of the Intercontinental Hotel in Princes Street, Auckland, installing over 70,000 sq ft of ceiling and insulated service areas. Other contracts completed by 1968 included the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Tauranga, using acoustic tiles, pyramids and plywood; and the Kodak Laboratory in Wellington. The division had a "close association: with JW Roberts Ltd (Turner & Newall Group, UK) and the NZ Fibreglass Company.[6]
Another restructuring of The Fletcher Construction Company Ltd in 1968 recognised the importance of insulation and acoustic services, with the company being divided into Construction, Mechanical, and Insulation and Acoustics Divisions. In the re-organisation, the Insulation and Acoustics Division gained responsibility for Planned Music Services, which held the franchise for muzak in Auckland.[7]
New head offices for the Fletcher Group were constructed in Penrose in 1969. Fletcher Insulation manufactured and installed 32,382 sq ft of Flesound fibrous acoustic tile ceilings. Insulation to duct and pipework was supplied and fixed, mainly in the form of rigid fibreglass blankets and foil insulation. Cold lines were treated with polystyrene pipe sections and vapour sealed with aluminium foil. The underside of the roof was sprayed with limpet asbestos. Other contracts completed in 1969 included the installation of 60,000 sq ft of Flesound tiles in the Johnsonville Mall, Wellington and work on the Travelodge Hotel in Oriental Parade, Wellington. Turners and Growers consulted the division about a major noise problem at the Auckland City Markets, which was solved by the use of pyramids, vacuum formed from light-reflective, perforated pvc sheet.
In 1970 the division undertook cool store insulation contracts for the Apple & Pear Board, Auckland Farmers Freezing Co-operative, Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, JBL Consolidated, NZ Refrigerating Company and Swift NZ Company. Major contracts for suspended ceilings included Air New Zealand House, Auckland; Auckland Medical School; Canterbury University Library Arts Building; CML Assurance Society office block in Auckland; National Mutual Life Association offices in Wellington; Otago University Biochemistry Block; and State Advances Corporation office block in Christchurch.[8]
On November 1, 1970[9] the Insulation and Acoustics Division was transferred to Fletcher Industries. As an extension of its suspended ceiling contracts activities, it had acquired distribution rights to Cunic partitions. Another expansion was into domestic central heating systems, manufactured by Zip and Climatrol for larger houses. Major contracts for the year were ceilings for the Acute Block, Auckland Hospital; partitions for National Mortgage and Agency Company building in Wellington; coolstore insulation for the Nelson Freezing Company; and ceilings for the Reserve Bank in Wellington.[10] It was also involved in a joint venture with Bells Thermalag Pty Ltd of Sydney for insulation work to the boilers at the New Plymouth power station.
During 1972, expansion continued with the opening of a new tile factory at Penrose and an agreement for Fletcher acoustic tiles to be made under licence in Indonesia. Fletcher Insulation & Acoustic Services supplied and installed a Dom suspended ceiling system for the six- storey Metropolitan Life building in Liverpool Street, Christchurch. Building extensions to the Paparua County Council offices by Fletcher Construction included insulation and the use of SLA for fire rating and sound transmission control. The Christchurch branch of the division supplied 1944 Flesound ceiling tiles for the Government Life Insurance building in Dunedin.
In 1973 the management of Fletcher Holdings Ltd decided to rationalise the group's activities and the decision was made to sell the Insulation and Acoustics Division, which had grown into a large number of relatively small operations.