After the recent earthquake a number of buildings in central Wellington were declared unsafe & Monday this week demolition started on an office building at 61 Molesworth street…

Rather than blow it up, or implode it, this building is being deconstructed by a machine that is like a cross between a transforminator and an insect. Using an extended claw it nibbles away at parts of the building. A steel buildings design would have laid out a more complex structure, of which deconstructing would have been easier, making the surroundings less grubby.

On Monday it was a bit windy, so having found a good location to record from I went back yesterday, Tuesday and also took my 100-400mm lens…

Apart from recording it was kinda fun just hanging out, it felt a bit like a sports event with random people stopping to watch… and a few media people shooting it…

At times it made slow progress – the whole process is estimated to take two weeks, but occasionally it gets dramatic – I had to stop myself cheering when that big claw took out a whole wall of glass! Great sounds, both from the impact & the rain of debris…

This will make an unexpected addition to my HISSandaROAR INDUSTRIAL Ambiences library due for release early next year – I recorded about 2 hours worth from my two visits, but will go back a few more times to see how much variation there is as it comes down…