There is a mini grandstand on the corner of Dixon and Victoria Street offering a street-level view of the under-construction Victoria Lane Apartments, courtesy of Willis Bond and LT McGuinness.

On the Willis Bond website, a page headed Construction Meets Theatre for Fringe Festival’s ‘The Builders’ Fringe’ concludes: “Constructed by LT McGuinness and designed by Athfield Architects, the project is part of the wider Cuba Precinct development which has regenerated a major city block into viable, seismically safe retail and commercial spaces. This includes the state-of-the-art Te Auaha campus and Greater Wellington Regional Council’s new offices at 100 Cuba Street.”

The commentary box at one end of the stand is occupied by Jason Muir of Maverick Creative who interacts with a flow of guest interviewees. His occasional co-compere and ‘live from the site’ reporter is multi-skilled Beks Coogan, from Palmerston North, in her Una Verse persona: sparkly blue top, yellow tights, ‘Game On’ undies on the outside into which a pair of long white silk gloves are tucked. Their purpose is not revealed while I am there.

Over lunch time city workers come and go, settling to tune into what’s happening for varying lengths of time. When I arrive, Jason is talking to a couple of Engineers about the foundations – 124 of them to be exact, of different kinds and depths according to the ground conditions. Jason peppers such genuinely interesting revelations with jocular exclamations about the arrival or departure of various vehicles and commentary on the actions of construction workers, be they demonstrating the ‘two-arm lean’, the ‘left hand wave’ or emptying a wheel barrow into a skip.  

Bek comments on styles and fashion, and engages in risqué banter with the blokes while checking their standards on matters of gender. Later she will venture into unseen parts of the site to report back from the front, as it were.  

There is a running gag, throughout the 80-odd minutes I’m there, about a secret underground Polystyrene Chapel which, I am told, is a Maverick Creative invention provoked by their discovery, on Monday, of a vast stash of polystyrene panels

Sean McGuinness, a Construction Manager for the firm (but not in this site), tells us the very tall crane that looms over the site, is a 280 HC-L called Ronald. He also reveals the hierarchy of hard-hat colours and notes that creating cement – first used in construction in Ancient Egypt – is responsible for 8% of the world’ carbon emissions. (My subsequent off-mic chat with Jason leads me to believe the polystyrene slabs are sandwiched between layers of concrete to reduce the amount of concrete used – but I stand to be corrected on that).

Meanwhile three men in blue hard hats have been strapped into harnesses and hoisted aloft in what Sean calls a Man Cage until Beks questions it, and he amiably changes it up to Gender Neutral Cage – or GNC, Beks suggests. The guys aloft are taking photos or footage of the project and Jason’s cellphone allows us to share the amusing banter they exchange with Richard, the crane driver.

Regional Councillor Ken Laban is the next guest interviewee, intent on talking up the value of the performing arts in particular while fielding questions about his life and career from police officer – during the 1981 Springbok Tour protests and the Dawn Raids – to renowned Rugby League player then Commentator which gave him the name recognition to successfully stand for the Regional Council. Ken also talks up the contributions the McGuinness family have made as Good Corporate Citizens in facilitating pop-up arts venues and other good works.  

It’s been a fascinating time. Who knows who will join Jason and Beks in the coming days, what will happen on the site, or what gems of information may come your way. But whether you stay for 10 or 100 minutes, there’s a fair chance you will find it worthwhile.

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