The following extracts have been  taken from an article “ART DECO BUILDINGS: EARTHQUAKE PRONE OR EARTHQUAKE PROOF?” (Hawke's Bay Heritage News  April 2016) that summarises the findings of the "Seismic Considerations for the Art Deco Interwar Reinforced Concrete Buildings of Napier, New Zealand" report.

“ Professor Ingham concluded that the structural design of the Hawke’s Bay Art Deco buildings of the 1930s was probably well ahead of its time because, when they examined the concrete structural parts of these buildings, the research team found that columns and other structural components had been constructed with plenty of well placed reinforcing steel – and also that there were plenty of these columns and components to ensure the building’s strength. Tests showed that the concrete and steel used were both equal in strength to that in current use and overall the concrete structure of the Art Deco era buildings generally exceeded the current new building standard. ”

“Concerns about the large number of art deco buildings in Napier with this classification led the Art Deco Trust to commission the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Auckland to conduct a study, which involved inspection of a number of Art Deco buildings in Hawke’s Bay, including a very detailed study of the IMS Building in Hastings. Professor Jason Ingham, the study leader, presented the findings of this research at a seminar organised by the Art Deco Trust at the Century Theatre in Napier in November last year. ”

The full report "Seismic Considerations for the Art Deco Interwar Reinforced Concrete Buildings of Napier, New Zealand" can be downloaded at the following link:
Seismic Considerations for the Art Deco Interwar Reinforced Concrete Buildings of Napier, New Zealand By Kevin Q Walsh, Kenneth J Elwood, and Jason M Ingham Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland February 2015)

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