Three, two, one... the quake-damaged 14-storey Radio Network building in Christchurch disappeared in a cloud of demolition dust on Sunday morning.
It took about six seconds for the building to come down after a series of deafening explosions reverberated around the central city. The dust quickly dispersed to reveal a pile of rubble spread over a relatively small area.
Sixty-three kilograms of explosives were detonated by six-year-old Queenstown boy Jayden Halliwell. He was nominated for the honour by the Child Cancer Foundation after eight demolition companies bid $26,000 on Trade Me for the right.
The successful implosion, the first-ever in New Zealand, was watched by hundreds from behind a public exclusion barrier and was streamed live on-line.
Small explosive charges earlier were placed strategically in the building's support columns, with the sequence of their firing controlled.
The cost of the implosion was close to $1 million and was covered by the building owner's insurance.
The Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority said other buildings might be demolished in the same way, because it was faster and cheaper.
Construction company Naylor Love and disaster recovery company Ceres NZ were responsible for the demolition, with US-based demolition expert Controlled Demolition Inc (CDI) carrying out the implosion work.
CDI president Mark Loizeaux is in Christchurch working on the implosion.
He earlier told 3News the reinforcing in the building, constructed in 1986, was "very challenging".
"So from a design standpoint, it's a young building, built to a pretty aggressive earthquake code. It's tough but I think we'll get her down," he said.
The money raised from the Trade Me auction will go to the Canterbury Earthquake Heritage Buildings Fund (CEHBF), Naylor Love and Ceres NZ have decided.
