Shaping Australia | Issue18

Shaping 18 issue

A Meinhardt Australia Magazine

www.meinhardt.com.au

December 2015

01 | INTRODUCTION

Message From The Top Welcome to the 2015 Edition of Shaping Australia.

Welcome to the final issue of Shaping for 2015.

The market remains as competitive as ever but there are plenty of positive signs for 2016.

Experts may argue that the residential market has reached its peak, nevertheless there are still numerous opportunities from boutique apartments to city centre towers.

The aged care and retirement living sectors are showing continued growth, while we also remain very busy in the Tertiary Education space.

The other sector we believe is the big watch for 2016 is hotels.

Hopefully you have had a great 2015 and we look forward to further collaboration next year.

Denis Young, Managing Director – Australia denis.young@meinhardtgroup.com

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Contents New Ideas

03.

15.

19.

25.

Is Geo-Exchange More Viable Than Air-Conditioning?

Solar Canopies How Building Services Can Deliver More Value To Buildings.

A Development Is Being Built Next Door.

Should I Worry?

Case Studies

09.

13.

28.

31.

Irving Street Brewery Wins Lachlan Macquarie Award For Heritage

09.

31.

Mayflower Brighton: Independent Living With A Wow Engineering The Pacific Islands The Hawthorn Club

Events

23.

Imagin8 networking seminar:

Finding Sites And Making Them Work

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03 | NEW IDEAS

Horizontal Closed Loop

Structure Vertical Closed Loop

Two Well System

Is Geo-exchange More Viable Than Air-based Air Conditioning?

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When it comes to air conditioning for buildings and in particular when it comes to air conditioning using air cooled direct expansion systems, every one degree increase in ambient temperature has a significant impact on power demand and efficiency of the unit.

Ivano Piubellini Associate Director– Building Services (Aus)

ivano.piubellini@meinhardtgroup.com

The key reason for this is that like any heat transfer device, an air-cooled air conditioning unit requires a temperature differential between the ambient air and the heat transfer medium, the refrigerant gas.

During air conditioning cooling mode operation, the larger the differential between the hot refrigerant gas and the ambient air temperature, the easier it is to transfer the waste heat, extracted from the building interior, to the outside air.

With climate research indicating that temperatures are gradually rising on average and the frequency of days with above average temperatures increasing, this is a significant issue.

Typically an air-cooled air conditioner needs to compress its refrigerant gas to generate gas temperatures of 45 to 55 degrees Celsius in order to ensure it can reject sufficient heat during summer air temperatures of 35 to 45 degrees Celsius and thereby provide the required cooling effect to the building interior.

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05 | NEW IDEAS

Air-Conditioning A number of measures can be applied to reduce the refrigerant gas temperatures required to reject heat. These primarily involve the use of water to assist with the heat rejection process. The two key applications are: water supply

Hot Water

Fill

warm air

cool air

Cold Water

water system which is connected 1. Atocondenser either an open or closed loop cooling tower.

The condenser water flows through a refrigerant to a water heat exchanger at the air conditioning unit and is pumped to a cooling tower, where evaporation of the condenser water is used to remove the heat from the loop.

This system is normally applied to larger refrigeration loads as it requires significant additional plant, additional controls and dedicated plant space for the cooling tower(s). For open cooling tower systems, it also requires ongoing water monitoring and treatment of the condenser water system.

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cooling pads applied to the air 2. Evaporative conditioning air cooled condensers. This

retains the basic air cooled heat rejection setup but utilises evaporation via wet pads to lower the incoming ambient air temperature around the condenser. It achieves the same effect as an evaporative cooler, lowering the incoming outside air and providing this to the building interior.

The evaporative pads are only required to lower the incoming ambient temperature to the condenser on days with elevated temperatures. Outside of these periods, they are not required. However, the pads do create additional air resistance and therefore the units require additional power to push air through the condenser coils.

What about looking down at the earth beneath our feet?

Using the ground as a means to reject heat or extract heat has been successfully applied for many years in Europe and North America.

It is important to make clear the distinction between the term geothermal plant and geo-exchange plant.

Whilst the terms are sometimes interchanged, the common definition is that a geothermal plant is a plant that taps into hot rock or heated water in the ground to generate heat energy (as in New Zealand where it is used to generate electrical power). A geo-exchange plant on the other hand, uses the earth’s stable temperature as a medium to reject or absorb heat.

Geo-exchange systems can be used as a lowenergy, high-efficiency alternative to air-cooled air conditioning plant. In simple terms, a geo-exchange system uses buried piping, usually in bores, to transfer the heat extracted from the building interior to the ground. In most systems, this is achieved by running a condenser water loop from the air conditioning condenser to the ground loop.

systems can be “ Geo-exchange used as a low-energy, highefficiency alternative to aircooled air conditioning plant.

�

Horizontal Closed Loop

Structure Vertical Closed Loop

Two Well System

The efficiency is achieved because the ground temperature is normally within a much closer range to the building control temperature when compared to the summer and winter ambient air temperatures.

Ground temperatures in Melbourne, for example, have been measured at around 15 degrees Celsius a few metres below the surface. During cooling mode operation, an air conditioning system rejecting heat to a 15 degree Celsius earth medium compared to 30 or 40 degree Celsius ambient air will be much more efficient. Similarly, during heating mode, an air conditioning system absorbing heat from a 15 degree Celsius earth medium compared to five or 10 degree Celsius ambient air will be more efficient.

Whilst geo-exchange systems are gaining popularity in Australia, they are still relatively unknown in the industry. Part of this is due to additional expertise required to install these types of systems, including bore drilling expertise.

The systems also need additional consideration regarding suitability as they will not be appropriate for all buildings and applications.

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07 | TOPIC HEADING

• Smaller electrical infrastructure due to lower peak power demand • The ability to be coupled with other energy transfer systems such as solar collectors, night time sky cooling loops and water body (i.e. pond , stream) heat transfer loops • Lower noise to neighbouring properties due to deletion of air cooled condenser/cooling towers • Longer life of the air conditioning system due to lower gas refrigerant pressures in the refrigeration circuit The Future Of Geo-Exchange Systems Geo-exchange systems require sufficient space for bores or horizontal ground loops, and can generate significant site management issues due to spoil generated by the boring or horizontal ground loop works. The ground conditions need to be suitable to provide sufficient heat transfer as some ground conditions have poor heat transfer conductivity and therefore require significantly more ground loop piping to achieve sufficient heat rejection/absorption.

Unlike air or water, which will naturally displace due to thermal buoyancy, the ground can become saturated with excess heat (or loss of heat) and may require a recovery period where the air conditioning system is not running. Therefore, applications where air conditioning use is limited to certain periods of the day has advantages over applications where either cooling or heating is required for extended periods.

Why Consider Geo-Exchange Systems?

Geo-exchange systems provide a viable alternative to conventional air conditioning systems for buildings and an energy efficient response to the challenges that rising global temperatures are creating. These systems provide significant benefits including: §§ Lower energy demands with efficiencies two to three times better than air cooled systems during peak cooling times • Carbon reduction of up to 75 per cent compared to air cooled systems

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There are a growing number of buildings in Australia which have installed geo-exchange air conditioning systems, and feedback has been generally positive, with significant savings being achieved in energy use. These include residential buildings, educational facilities, civic buildings and commercial buildings.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with the Geotechnical Research Group of the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne. They are undertaking significant research on geo-exchange systems and have a number of operational systems which provide ongoing operational data on ground conditions, ground loop water temperatures and system operational efficiencies. One such site is the Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences in Parkville, Melbourne.

The group’s ongoing research indicates that depending on site conditions, shallower ground loop bores can be used to reduce time and cost of boring, which is one of the most significant costs related to installation of these types of geo-exchange systems.

With growing industry knowledge on geo-exchange and further development of standards to set guidelines for these systems, there is potential for significant increase in take up of this technology to address some of the challenges we are facing with the rise in global average temperatures.

Meinhardt Wins University of Melbourne’s Historic Engineering Workshops Project.

Meinhardt’s Building Services team has been appointed by the University of Melbourne to help refurbish and redevelop the famous Engineering Workshops, a building of heritage significance.

Ivano Piubellini Associate Director– Building Services (Aus) ivano.piubellini@meinhardtgroup.com

Located on the 1854 boundary of the University, the Engineering Workshops were designed and constructed in the late 1930’s by Percy Everett, the Chief Architect of the Public Works Department, in collaboration with A F Burstall, Professor of Engineering.

The project’s aim is to provide a modern workshop facility for engineering research and student projects, and to accommodate new technology research equipment.

The refurbishment will be designed with a level of modularity to facilitate the ability to grow and adapt to future accommodation requirements. It will include specialist equipment, including a 3D Metal Printer and a CAREN (Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment).

This project, which will be designed by architects DesignInc, is a key step in the strategic growth and planning for the Melbourne School of Engineering, and will provide improvements to student workgroups and showcase engineering on the Parkville campus.

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09 | CASE STUDY

Irving Street Brewery wins Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage.

An adaptive reuse of a century-old brewery at Sydney’s Central Park precinct has won the coveted Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage at the 2015 National Architecture Awards.

Denis Young Discipline Leader – Building Services denis.young@meinhardtgroup.com

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11 | CASE STUDY

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Photography by John Gollings

acts as the generating “ Itfocus of an entire new urban precinct, The project thus combines new technology, sustainability, urban design and heritage.

”

Irving Street Brewery by Tzannes Associates, with structural and civil engineering by Meinhardt, involved the repurposing of the heritage-listed Kent Brewery into a new commercial, retail and residential building to complement the surrounding developments at the Central Park precinct.

It was also designed to accommodate a natural gas-powered tri-generation plant that will eventually provide water, energy and air treatment to all of the buildings in the Central Park. Heritage elements of the façade have been refurbished, the 62-metre chimney flue has been repurposed into an exhaust for the underground tri-generation plant and six plant coolers covered in zinc mesh have been added to the building’s roof.

The important historic status of the existing heritage listed brick walls and limitations of the existing structure meant some significant structural engineering design challenges. We undertook extensive computer modelling of all loading situations in order to design an efficient clear span portal frame solution and limit overall deflections to reduce the risk of cracking. The structure has been designed to complement the heritage steel hoppers and concrete grain silos, eliminating the need for excess new elements, which may compromise the aesthetic value of this significant heritage building. The new structure now re-activates the Brewery Buildings for the new

uses, maximising internal spaces while drawing attention to the existing heritage items Jury Citation: The Irving Street Brewery is an outstanding example of the retention and adaptive re-use of a significant heritage building.

The historic shell has been retained and awaits a new public function but all of the structure’s industrial parts, including the original hoppers, have been faithfully revealed.

The Irving Street Brewery delivers significant community benefits through a highly energy-efficient method of supplying power and hot and cold water to a major inner urban mixed-use development.

It provides a model of how new sustainable technologies can be integrated and celebrated with the reinvention and adaptive re-use of an important historic structure.

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13 | CASE STUDY

Mayflower Brighton: Independent Living With Wow

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Mayflower Brighton’s latest state-of-theart, architecturally designed independent living units are now complete.

Rennie Darmanin Discipline Leader – Structures (Aus) rennie.darmanin@meinhardtgroup.com

The precinct called Henshall Close has an impressive frontage on Grant Street Brighton East, and adds 25 independent living units to the current complement of independent seniors living accommodation at Mayflower Brighton.

Each unit has two or three bedrooms, two bathrooms, open plan living and dining spaces and private outdoor terraces.

Other features include reverse cycle air conditioning and heating, security system, secure underground car park and storage cage. The modern, well equipped kitchen comes with a dishwasher and microwave and the laundry has a washer and separate dryer supplied.

The development has been designed according to strict eco-friendly specifications so as to achieve an average 6 Star Rating.

Meinhardt has been providing structural and civil engineering across Stages SHAPING | END OF YEAR EDITION 2015

2 and 3, delivering not just aged care accommodation but a hydrotherapy pool, daycentre, café and multi-use facility.

We cultivated an approach to delivering the projects that allowed maximum collaboration between all key members ensuring value was added by all collaborators at all stages of the project.

We have helped the client in developing a low maintenance building, taking into consideration all performance issues such as cost, buildability, durability, functionality, operating flexibility as well as time and energy efficiencies.

There are a number of units still available.

An animated virtual video tour of the units can be viewed at www.mayflower.org.au.

For more information regarding Henshall Close, contact Mayflower Brighton on +61 3 9591 1100.

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15 | NEW IDEAS

Solar Canopies Scott Carne Senior Civil Engineer – Meinhardt e: scott.carne@meinhardtgroup.com p: +61 3 8676 1286 m: +61 403 245 827

Glenn Melton Director – PPA Direct e: glenn@ecoforlife.com.au p: +61 2 6059 5375 | +61 423 800 858 w: www.ppadirect.com.au

Solar Car Park Canopy – Concept Animation

Video will open in YouTube The Challenge

Minimising energy and potable water usage, conserving resources and reducing operational costs makes both environmental and business sense.

Altering or adding to the building fabric of your main assets, however, can be a complex and expensive option.

That is why we have identified public car parks as a real opportunity for energy generation and rainwater harvesting, particularly in the following sectors: • Shopping Centres • Airports & Train Stations • Hospital & Medical Facilities • Leisure Facilities & Sports Clubs • Schools & Universities

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The Solution

Utilising our multi-disciplinary Planning & Engineering capabilities, we have developed a modular, cost-effective sustainable solution which can be scaled for any sized car park.

The off-roof canopy system incorporates solar panels and rainwater harvesting for irrigation or other non-potable water demand, such as toilet flushing or cleaning.

Using water balanced modelling, rainfall and demand is measured in your specific region to optimise tank sizes for cost-effective storage and reliable water supply. You have the flexibility to specify a single solar or combined solar/ water solution to suit your needs.

We have teamed up with PPA Direct who provide Solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) to cover the upfront capital cost of the system with a fixed term contract to supply the solar at a heavily discounted price when compared to grid power.

Alternatively, if you prefer, you can fund the project yourself.

The Benefits

• Modular solution minimises any potential operational disruption, as only a small number of parking bays need to be shut down at any one time • Provides shade and weather protection to vehicles which supports longer residence time • Architecturally aesthetic design • Generates sustainable renewable energy • Offsets potable water usage • Allows owner to charge for premium under cover parking • It is quick and safe to build • We provide full-cycle support from inception to construction

Self-Funded

PPA

Payback in 5-7 years (dependent on electricity tariff & location)

No upfront cost

You own the asset forever

Maintenance costs all covered

100% offset solar power costs

Real-time monitoring all included

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17 | OPINION

Solar Car Park Canopy Layout Plan

Drainage pit draining carpark surface and outfall for tank Overflow pipe to drainage outfall

Downpipes concealed in structure

Underground roof drainage pipe

Tank access manhole with outfall non return valve Underground rainwater storage tanks connected to each canopy and into supply

Cost & Energy Savings

Power Requirements

Solar Other

Total Energy Cost Savings

35%

Solar typically meets up to 35% of your power requirements and will typically save you up to 15% in energy costs. The addition of Voltage Optimisation under a PPA can lead to total energy savings of up to 25% on a refrigerated site.

15%

Cost & Water Savings

16 bay carpark canopy module could provide up to 100,000L of harvested stormwater in Melbourne per year.

When these modules and tanks are linked together the potable water offset is only limited by the car park area.

Potable water usage that is reduced will offset upfront costs over time.

$ SHAPING | END OF YEAR EDITION 2015

75-85% demand reliability of the potable water needed for irrigation, toilet usage and other nonpotable uses.

Howlong Golf Club Solar Canopy – PPA Direct Installation

Implementation Process Meinhardt Planning Obtain relevant planning approvals

Case Study Howlong Golf Club

PPA Direct Complete water balance model and size rainwater tank

Meinhardt Civil Complete electrical supply model to determine effective size

Meinhardt Structural Structural design of canopy and footings

Meinhardt & PPA Direct Construction documentation and supervision

PPA Direct PPA Funding Agreement and ongoing maintenance of system

100 kW

320 x 310W

155,000 kWh

4 Modules

solar system

solar panels installed

produced annually

each covering 48 carparks

This solar system will not only provide great savings “ on our electricity bill, it also provides great shade for

our golfers and their general enjoyment of the Club.

The weekend Rotary Market loves the shade for their —Club Manager, Chris Rebbechi stalls.

”

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19 | NEW IDEAS

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How Building Services Can Deliver More Value In Tall Buildings.

The changing and increasing needs of developers, architects, tenants and cities are challenging the way we design building services for tall buildings Mathew Burke Discipline Leader – Building Services (NSW & QLD) mathew.burke@meinhardtgroup.com

How do we maximise floorspace to improve returns without compromising design and comfort? And how do we incorporate developing technologies and adapt to shifts in building practices to maximize performance and increase economic benefits?

Key considerations include: • Identification of services spatial requirements • Rationalisation of services arrangements • Efficiency of core design including size and number of lifts, number and location of services risers • Vertical continuity of services • Simplicity of services routes • Evaluation of options to achieve compliance with the NCC/BCA By using innovative building services strategies such as distributed pumping, CFD modeling, EC windows, vertical city approach and renewable energy

analysis, it is possible to reduce the size required for plant space allowances, reduce the core risers sizes and number whilst always maintaining the buildings performance and quality.

Distributed Pumping As far as we are aware, we are one of the first engineering firms in the country using this technology.

A conventional system uses a pump designed for full load pushing against a brake (motorized control valve). The distributed pumping system utilizes a pump with a variable speed drive connected to the temperature sensor in place of the brake. As the demand across the coil is increased or decreased the pump speeds up or down accordingly.

This system can be used for heating or cooling and saves 22% energy on peak load days and 49% on normal days and costs no more to install than the conventional system.

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21 | NEW IDEAS

145 City Road Tower, London

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using innovative building “ By services strategies…it is possible

to reduce the size required for plant space allowances, reduce the core risers sizes and number whilst always maintaining the buildings performance and quality.

”

When the system is commissioned, there is no need to allow 3-4 months to balance all of the 90 floors. The distributed pumping system with its smart controller and variable speed drives balance automatically.

Computational Fluid Design When it comes to CFD modelling in high rise buildings, most people think about wind loading on the structure.

At Meinhardt we use CFD modeling to inform the sizing of our mechanical system. By using a model we can simulate the indoor environment using the façade type and performance and match it with the appropriately sized mechanical system. This reduces cost due to over-design of mechanical output, saves space on reduced mechanical plant and reduces the core riser requirements.

Electrochromatic (EC) Windows This is an emerging technology that allows the transparency level of the glass to be altered. Smart glass controls the amount of light transmission. When activated, the glass changes from transparent to translucent, blocking some of the light wavelengths leading to a reduction in heating, cooling and lighting costs as well as the need to install and maintain motorized light screens, blind or curtains.

Using this technology in conjunction with the CFD modeling of the façade we can reduce the size of the mechanical system, saving construction expenditure as well as operational costs.

Vertical Cities At Meinhardt, we look at super-tall buildings as vertical cities, by extending the medium-voltage primary distribution to as close to the load centre as possible.

This reduces the material required to distribute power while also reducing distribution power losses.

The zoning within super-tall or high-rise buildings lends itself to configuration through multiple electrical feeds, which inherently increases the system reliability and redundancy. In this way, it is a similar concept to the horizontal distribution of cities with the redundant power coming from on-site generators combined with a photovoltaic system.

Renewable Energy Systems Integrated photovoltaic panels on the façade, which use alternating upward-angled spandrel panels to maximize sun exposure for energy collection and downward-angled viewing panels, can minimize sun glare and heat gain, thereby reducing the cooling load.

We have the ability to use a CFD model to run an optimization analysis for the positioning and placement of these panels to support the maximum amount of energy that would be collected to generate power for the tower’s electrical systems.

Using this information we can suggest certain portions of exterior wall spandrel panels be fitted with active photovoltaic panels to maximize performance and to increase economic benefit.

Innovative Fire Engineering Solutions This can be particularly beneficial in high rise buildings. Where buildings are very tall it is important to consider all aspects of fire safety and how the tall nature of the building will impact on the occupants and fire fighters. Applying the Deemed to Satisfy (DtS) provisions of the BCA isn’t necessarily appropriate in these very tall buildings.

One aspect of fire safety design recently adopted into the BCA is the use of lift as part of the evacuation strategy. This doesn’t work in lower rise buildings, but in high rise residential buildings this can provide a very efficient strategy for evacuating occupants.

In addition to occupants escaping from the building carrying out effective firefighting operations in the building is an important consideration. The best approach is to ensure systems are designed to allow effective firefighting operations to take place from inside the building.

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23 | EVENTS

imagin8 is a series of educational seminars designed to share the latest global thinking in the built environment space.

Finding Sites and Making Them Work.

Where are the opportunities for project creation? How do we unlock under-utilised areas? How do we avoid the tendering process? How do we create more value in sites?

In partnership with

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Andrew Leoncelli Managing Director – Residential Projects CBRE State of the Market Update

Tom Harrington Associate Director – Planning (VIC) Meinhardt Where Are The Opportunities?

From Site Consolidation to Council Car Parks

Tim Clarke Associate Plus Architecture Feasibilities: Finding That Extra 10%

Click here to download the speaker presentations.

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25 | NEW IDEAS

A Major Development Is Being Built Next Door.

Should I Worry?

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The value of property in Australian capital cities, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, is changing the economics of recycling existing buildings.

Rennie Darmanin Discipline Leader – Structures rennie.darmanin@meinhardtgroup.com

Relatively young low-rise buildings, and even mid-rise buildings, are making way for a new generation of buildings, including residential apartment buildings of 60, 70 and even 80 storeys.

Now, if I am an owner of a building asset adjacent to one of these developments, should I worry? Will the construction works affect my asset beyond the obvious inconvenience during construction?

The answer to this was recently made absolutely clear in a Melbourne suburb.

The same issue arises for property owners adjacent to major infrastructure works such as services upgrades and major rail and road projects.

The Building Code of Australia provides protection to adjoining owners in the following way: • The developer of a project is required to seek advice from the relevant building surveyor as to whether works to project the adjoining property (protection works) are required • If deemed to be required, these protection works must be provided before and during the construction work • The developer is required to

serve notice on the adjoining owner and provide details of any proposed protection works • The adjoining owner is required to review the proposed protection works and advise agreement or otherwise within 14 days These protection works documents invariably involve structural drawings of temporary works, such as ground retention works for basement construction or temporary propping to existing above ground structures. An independent structural engineer is usually engaged by the adjoining owner to provide independent technical advice. This advice can include a recommendation that the proposed works are considered acceptable, or a recommendation for further and better particulars of the protection works.

However, the acceptance of the protection works is just the start of the journey for the adjoining owner.

What happens when they start discovering things like cracking that ‘wasn’t there six months ago,’ movement of various elements relative to each other on their side of the property boundary, or water ingress into habitable spaces?

The importance of a due diligence dilapidation survey cannot be

over-emphasised. This survey is a key document that creates the datum against which all claims of damage due to construction works can be assessed.

A comprehensive due diligence dilapidation survey is a very detailed record of existing conditions prior to the commencement of construction works on the nearby site. It can record various components and systems in a building. The survey usually involves a photographic record along with relevant notes of existing defects such as cracking, distortion, settlement, movement, concrete spalling, joint movement, water seepage and other potential defects.

Importantly, it should also record where no defects are present. A fair, comprehensive dilapidation report removes the key obstacle to dispute resolution around this issue, namely ‘was the defect there before the adjoining works began?’

So, if you are the owner of a building near a new development, what should you do?

Firstly, know your rights. The site will have a building surveyor authorised to assess building plans with a view to ensuring they comply with the Building Act 1993, the Building Regulations 2006 and the Building Code of Australia. His/her formal SHAPING | END OF YEAR EDITION 2015

27 | NEW IDEAS

We have found in “ the past that all

parties involved in adjoining owner issues respond professionally and appropriately when there is adequate documentation that is accepted by all up front.

�

title is the relevant building surveyor (RBS). You should have received formal notification from them that works are about to commence.

Secondly, understand that your adjoining neighbour is required, where determined by the RBS, to notify you of works to be carried out and request your consent.

This request will usually include documentation in the form of drawings.

Get a professional to carry out an independent review of the drawings. This is usually a structural engineer who can assess the potential for damage to your structure due to the works, and just as importantly, the proposed method of carrying out the works.

Finally, arrange to have a dilapidation survey carried out on your property before works

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commence. You will need at least two copies of this document. They should be dated and a copy sent to the entity responsible for the works on the adjoining property, usually the head contractor. Formal acknowledgement of receipt should be obtained to ensure that everyone is in agreement of the starting point on this journey.

We have found in the past that all parties involved in adjoining owner issues respond professionally and appropriately when there is adequate documentation that is accepted by all up front.

This will not guarantee a hasslefree experience as an adjoining owner, but it will go a long way toward avoiding the angst of arguing about who should pay for consequential damage that occurs to existing building during adjoining works.

Engineering The Pacific Islands The team is continuing to build a portfolio of work across the Pacific Islands from Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands.

David Sheikh Associate – Structures david.sheikh@meinhardtgroup.com

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29 | CASE STUDY

Waigani National Courts Complex Location: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Client: National Judiciary Services, PNG Area: 25,000m² Cost: $190m Architects: Peddle Thorp with PTW Architects and James Cubitt Architects The complex is designed as a campus environment which adds to the existing Supreme and National Courts Building. Three new buildings totally over 25,000m² are being constructed. These include a 5-level Courts and Judiciary building with 14 new court rooms, a 3-storey administrative support building with space for registries and support agencies and a single level security arrivals building.

The new courts building is designed for optimal spatial efficiency through vertically stacked courtrooms and centralised circulation zones and services. Court rooms are standardised and used for either criminal or civil cases. The ceremonial SHAPING | END OF YEAR EDITION 2015

Banco Court is able to be converted into a major conference facility. The building structure is overlaid with screens that add depth and colour to the facades with the feature screen to the ceremonial court constructed from woven concrete structure emblematic of Papua New Guinean billum bags symbolic of the interweaving of the diverse PNG cultures.

National Capital District Commission City Hall Location: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Client: China Railway Construction Engineering Area: 5,728m² Cost: $26m This brand new 5 Storey high City Hall admin building at Waigani is a new landmark for the capital.

The major challenge of the project was to upgrade the original engineering design by local consultants to Australian standards. This was achieved by our Australian project team in partnership with the Chinese-based main contractor, and incorporates a combination of Australian and Chinese materials,

equipment and construction practices without compromising the high quality build standard.

The building was inaugurated in July 2015 prior to the 2015 Pacific Games Port Moresby and was hailed as a major success story for collaborative, multi-national engineering.

Solomon Islands A multi-disciplinary structural and civil engineering design team has been working across half a dozen projects in the Solomon Islands to the east of PNG, with the majority in the nation’s capital Honiara.

Rove Armoury – a new facility at the country’s police headquarters is now complete, as is the Ministry of Finance Treasury Building.

potential flooding issues which also allowed to detail safe overland stormwater flow paths to be maintained around the new building. The civil works also involved a maintenance access road to the services plant zone.

To complement the Ministry of Finance Treasury facility, the team has also designed a new IT support building, which is out to contractor tender.

Also out for contractor tender are a new fire station facility in Honiara and a new police complex in Tulagi.

Finally, design for the Justice Precinct – which features 3 buildings, including a magistrates court – have been completed to 70% design.

The 3-storey office building consists of a reinforced concrete column & beam system supporting suspended bondek slabs with detailing designed & documented to suit the local constraints & building expertise.

With the building being in very close proximity to the ocean, the ground floor level was built up to mitigate SHAPING | END OF YEAR EDITION 2015

31 | CASE STUDY

The Hawth

Taking inspiration from its s in Hawthorn, one of Me suburbs, the project for M on the corner of Luton La

Maria Licas Associate –

maria.licastro

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horn Club

sophisticated surroundings elbourne’s most affluent Manors Gate sits proudly ane and Glenferrie Road.

stro – Electrical

o@meinhardtgroup.com

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33 | CASE STUDY

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The development, designed by Plus Architecture, “ features 64 stylish chic apartments, the majority a mix of one and two beds and four three-bed apartments. ” Taking inspiration from its sophisticated surroundings in Hawthorn, one of Melbourne’s most affluent suburbs, Hawthorn Club sits proudly on the corner of Luton Lane and Glenferrie Road.

Interiors are sympathetic to the façade and a timeless design allows residents to personalise the space with a minimal palette creating a lightness, which responds to the exterior.

Broken in half along the boundary to respect the finer grain of Victorian architecture and intimate scale of Luton Lane, Hawthorn Club features a long façade with cut-outs and a planter zone to create rhythm, whilst emphasising the break in the building. A metal pergola lines the rooftop to create further interest with the building’s visual depth.

Oak timber floors throughout and full height doors create a sense of openness, whilst porcelain stone benchtops, crisp 2pac joinery combined with bronze metal detailing and travertine tiles in the bathroom create a luxurious finish.

Building materials adhere to the area’s sophistication with luxurious travertine and bluestone finishes. The ground floor retail space features a glass façade and a gradient glass canopy to provide sophisticated sun protection.

The development features 64 stylish chic apartments, the majority a mix of one and two beds and four three-bed apartments. The location of the development provides great access to nearby Swinburne university, public transport and schools.

The Meinhardt Building Services team has worked closely with the client and architect through each stage of design to ensure their vision for the building is realized, in a cost effective manner that reflects the project’s budget.

The challenge has been to optimise the net lettable area without compromising the design, buildability, function and performance of the building services.

In order to design for the unknown we have designed a flexible solution for the retail space on the ground floor allowing a variety of tenant options to be considered.

SHAPING | END OF YEAR EDITION 2015

Your Contacts

Denis Young

Jon Brock

Paul Doody

Bob Ellis

Tom Harrington

Jason Murdoch

Amelia Russo

Tony Douglas

Michael White

Steve Dunstone

Dr. Santo Ragusa

Mathew Burke

Ivano Piubellini

Brendan Smith

Rennie Darmanin

Brian Parker

Managing Director – (Aus) denis.young@meinhardtgroup.com

State Leader - Land Development (VIC) tom.harrington@meinhardtgroup.com

Discipline Leader - Civil Infrastructure michael.white@meinhardtgroup.com

Associate Director - Building Services ivano.piubellini@meinhardtgroup.com

Feedback

National Director - Land Development (Aus) jon.brock@meinhardtgroup.com

State Leader - Property & Buildings (QLD) paul.doody@meinhardtgroup.com

State Leader - Land Development (QLD) Associate Director–Environment jason.murdoch@meinhardtgroup.com amelia.russo@meinhardtgroup.com

Discipline Leader - Civil steve.dunstone@meinhardtgroup.com

Discipline Leader – Project & Programme Management brendan.smith@meinhardtgroup.com

If you have any queries about the content in the magazine, please contact: Justin Farmer PR and Marketing Manager – (Aus) justin.farmer@meinhardtgroup.com

Discipline Leader Environmental Services santo.ragusa@meinhardtgroup.com

State Leader - Property & Buildings (SA) bob.ellis@meinhardtgroup.com

General Manager - Facades Australia tony.douglas@meinhardtgroup.com

Discipline Leader - Property & Buildings (NSW) mathew.burke@meinhardtgroup.com

Discipline Leader - Structures (NSW) Discipline Leader - Structures rennie.darmanin@meinhardtgroup.com brian.parker@meinhardtgroup.com