Columns up ahead of Reti's visit

Contractors manoeuvre a prefabricated column into place on the facade of the new Dunedin hospital outpatients building at the corner of Castle and St Andrew Sts yesterday.

These building works come ahead of a visit by Health Minister Shane Reti today.

Work on the outpatient building began in late-2022.

Programme director Tony Lloyd previously said the final design for the building was a five-storey building with plants on top.

It would have a total of 15,574sq m in floor space and a maximum building height of 26.1m, but the rooftop plant enclosure would rise an additional 6.26m.

The first structural steel columns were erected in August of last year.

Earlier this year, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora confirmed the completion of the building had been delayed to mid 2026 — about half a year later than the previous estimate and the second schedule shift for the building within the past two years.