Historic cottage left high-and-dry

Albert Park's historic caretaker's cottage is on the move, but don't worry it's not going far.

The 136-year-old heritage building has been hoisted two metres into the air in order to replace its crumbling foundations.

The vertical move is part of a council plan to restore its heritage buildings but instead of using traditional methods, the council has opted for a company that uses cutting-edge lifting technology developed after the Christchurch earthquakes.

"Conventional systems are really slow and unsafe," says House Lifters Director Rod Moore.

"Our system is a modular and put together really quickly.

"It's the safest, most highly-engineered system available."

Moore's system uses a series of lifting towers and beams that pass from one side of the building to the other.

Once in place, computer-controlled hydraulic jacks lift the beams and with it the building.

"The lifting is synchronised and so there's uniform pressure throughout all the jacks," says Rod Moore.

"Everything comes up nice and slowly and evenly and that way there is no racking or twisting of the building."

The system also means there are no blocks of timber underneath the house to keep it suspended.

"Our lifting technology provides a clear safe working space below so you can get machinery under there and basically speed the project up."

Moore said his house lifting system has proven popular in Auckland with people needing to lift older homes in order to re-pile them or to build additional living space underneath.