Beers and cheers mark victory in battle of the Kaimai fireproof hut

It's a simple, yet modern hut in the bush, nestled high in the Kaimai Ranges.

But when Stan Lowe looks at the roofline embracing a classic Kiwi bush hut porch, he sees the end of an eight year effort by dozens of volunteers in the face of initially reluctant officialdom.

He also sees something that could one day save lives. 

"No one will burn to death in there, we're sure," Lowe said at the opening of possibly the country's first fireproof hut.

Te Whare Okioki - The Resting Place - is a concrete hut built in the Kaimai Ranges on the boarder of Waikato and Bay of Plenty. 

The boxes of Waikato beers that marked the opening got there the same way most of the hut did - by helicopter. 

More than 80 people hiked a three hour trail or flew into the bush to celebrate the opening of Te Whare Okioki - The Resting Place, a concrete hut build by volunteers under the Kaimai Ridgeway Trust with the support of Ngāti Hinerangi. 

The eight-by-five metre structure is made of precast lightweight concrete blocks, called Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) and prefabricated galvanised steel beams that are expected to serve generations of trampers, hunters and search and rescue operations.

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At one quarter the weight of the standard materials, AAC made it possible to chopper the innovative product to the clearing.

The build cost about $230,000 for helicopter use and materials, but the approximate 1300 building hours sunk into the hut by a group of mainly 50-70-year-olds was free. 

Project manager Stan Lowe, with the help from builder Robert Humphreys and SuperBuild AAC agent Chris Middleditch, pitched the unfamiliar concept to a skeptical Department of Conservation (DoC).

"For the last three or four years we've been battling to get the ok. We had to show DoC that there's a good reason for [a fire-proof hut], so that took a bit of getting through," Lowe said.

In a document named 'A case for non-combustable building methods', Middleditch outlined 12 huts that had burned down since 1999, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and taking life of Nigel Heron in Southland, 2015.

"The usual objection to fireproof construction is that such materials are too heavy to take deep into our wilderness ... [but] we are long past the days of hut materials being manually carried to remote sites by humans, horses or ox-cart, or milled from the surrounding forest.

"These days, helicopters lift most materials efficiently to the building sites."

Ngāti Hinerangi trustee Phillip Samuels said the shift from traditional building methods left DoC uneasy, but iwi could see the benefits of the concept with a helipad.

"They were hesitant, they would not move unless iwi were happy to go with it, but we could see the benefits so when it comes to search and rescue we're limited to areas we can get people in and out from, so that was one of our buy-ins."

While concrete could be the start of a new movement in back country hut design, DoC's Bay of Plenty Conservation Board chair Ken Raureti said the initial reluctance came down to funding.

"It's not to say more can't go in, but if we had more resources we could achieve more."

But for Lowe, standing on the deck of one of his greatest achievements, surrounded by his friends and family, he couldn't have been prouder of Te Whare Okioki and the people who helped him along the way. 

"For us, the most important thing is keeping everybody safe. I've been on the project since 2011, so eight years I've been on this and I'm very, very happy.

"It's been just about heartbreaking to get there, quite emotional. This is probably my last big thing I'll do."

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