Future Directions
a magazine for young property professionals October ‘11
inside:
who we are chairman’s address the future directions committee the youth exodus the education revolution nrah, contributing to the future direction of south australia event wrap-up & snaps up-coming events
sponsors
who we are
Future Directions is a Property Council committee comprising a group of young leaders working to promote, provide and coordinate networking mediums for young professionals. The committee: - actively acknowledges contributions made to SA property by young professionals - coordinates events to provide both educational and networking opportunities to young professionals; and - strives to promote careers in SA property and enhance university graduate interest.
chairman’s address Luke Rogers KBR
Friends, colleagues and sponsors, welcome to the first issue of the 2011 Future Directions E-news. What a year it has been thus far with (large-scale) projects such as New Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australian Health and Medial Research Institute, Tower 8 and the Adelaide Oval redevelopment projects all in full swing. The historic ‘yes’ vote that will see AFL return to Adelaide Oval has triggered what is regarded as South Australia’s largest psycological infrastructure project in years. Combined with the pending release of the Riverbank masterplan forming the basis for one of Adelaide’s best meeting places and the largest infrastructure investment in South Australia’s history, we are at a point of great opportunity for our city. South Australia is also putting its front foot forward on transport infrastructure development with the Seaford Rail Extension, Glengowrie tram depot upgrade, South Road Superway, and the Southern expressway duplication. These projects , will surely impact on property development south of the city in the near future.
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It has been a long, hard road over the past 24 months and as an industry we have survived. I think most of us have been riding a similar
learning curve during this period during which we’ve had to fight hard to secure deals and retain value, while being much more selective about the ventures we undertake. The difficult times are not over, but with this experience under our belts I’m sure will help us succeed and prosper when the good times finally return and Adelaide begins to benefit from the completion of many key projects. 2011 was off to a successful start with “Adelaide interACTION”, the very first event held at the Higher Ground on 2nd June soon followed up by a fantastic End of Financial Year event at PJ O’Brien’s. I would like to sincerely thank our series sponsors KBR and UniSA who have been great partners of Future Directions over recent years. That’s it from me so all the best for the rest of 2011, thank you for your continued support and I hope to catch you for a beverage at the next Future Directions event.
Armin Atighi
Luke Rogers
Badge Construction
KBR
Construction Manager
Infrastructure Manager
Michael Basso
Ashleigh Shepherdson
Wilson Parking Australia
Hays Recruitment
Business Development Manager
Recruitment Consultant
Llora Candetti
Trang Vo
Candetti Constructions
Minter Ellison Lawyers
Legal Council
Associate
Michael Carrocci
Petar Vukajlovic
Buildtec
Schiavello (SA)
Project Manager
Project Manager
Justin Goodman
Lukas Weeks
Aurecon
Jones Lang Lasalle
Associate
Senior Leasing Executive
Lewis Hewton
Nadine Wessel
Cundall
McIntyre, Robertson, Scarborough
ESD Consultant
Asset Manager
Derek Langman
Sophie Wilkinson
Parsons Brinckerhoff
ISIS
Civil Engineer
Project Coordinator
Cameron Mackellar
Jared Toms
Area Construction
Coffey Projects
Project Manager
Project Manager
Onneile Matlapeng
Kyall Smith
Hansen Yuncken
Property Council of Australia
Project Coordinator
Policy Officer
committee
the youth exodus Kyall Smith Property Council of Australia (SA Division)
Like many cities, Adelaide is in a global competition for talent. And despite its status as Australia’s most liveable city, Adelaide is constantly losing the best and brightest of its youth, as has been demonstrated for decades in ABS statistics. In this case, Adelaide’s youth are packing their bags and heading east, following promises of excitement and opportunity or people, and often they do not return.
This phenomenon is certainly not unique to Adelaide, however there is a general sense that those who leave do so – at least in part – because of a prevailing ‘Adelaide: love it exactly the way it is or leave it’ attitude. There is also a growing argument that a stagnant, unchanging society will lose its young. This is beautifully enunciated in a New York Times article ‘You Like It, They Build It’ 2011. This quote, about the impact of moving from a small town to a large city, could have come from an Adelaide expat: “Once you get a slice of that, you don’t want to come back to a place where you go outside your house and nobody’s out there”. Who hasn’t heard someone express a similar sentiment about Adelaide? We all know someone who has lived in London or another big city, and has found coming back to Adelaide, where little has changed, quite the culture shock. But what is it that entices our youth to leave home and move to the big city, and why do Australia’s metropolises remain the major destinations for Adelaide’s youth? According to the above article, the answer is innovation. Youth seek change, excitement and a capacity to leave their mark on a city. Here, it seems, so many have tried and failed in this noble ambition.
New York is a beacon for America’s youth, and examples of New York’s innovation are clearly visible in its approach to engaging with the public in shaping their city and the way people live, work and play within their city.
New York has recently introduced a new website that encourages New Yorkers to propose policy initiatives that they would love to see the city adopt. Dubbed Change by Us, this site is effectively a giant billboard for great ideas for how to keep the city at the forefront of creativity, innovation and creating great spaces. New York has also enjoyed great success with the program NYC BigApps Ideas, a website dedicated to encouraging New Yorkers to crowdsource ideas for apps that can improve the city. Back home, Melbourne has shown us some great examples of innovation and has succeeded in transforming their once ‘rust bucket’ state and dying CBD into what is now widely considered the jewel of the southern hemisphere. If the small cities fail to innovate and keep pace with their larger counterparts, they will continue to lose their best and brightest. This was a price Bristol in the USA was not prepared to pay. Bristol has commenced a program to lure back its youth with a re-energised central business district boasting a mix of housing, stores, restaurants and public spaces. In the spirit of building communities, the city’s planning partner Renaissance Downtowns is utilising social media to generate for support in a process it calls ‘crowdsourced placemaking’. The City of Perth has undertaken a similar program to breathe life back into its CBD. It was once a city that shut down at 5pm when city professionals made a mad dash back to suburbia, leaving the town vacant. Now Perth has a CBD that could rival Melbourne and is enjoying all the benefits of retaining its youth.
Over the past two years Adelaide has made some inroads to creating a vibrant and active CBD worthy of retaining its youth, the most vital of these being the stunning ‘yes’ vote on the Adelaide Oval redevelopment. This project will bring over fifty thousand football supporters, concert goers or other entertainment seekers into the heart of the city every time there is a major event. Alongside this is the development of a riverbank precinct masterplan and a plan to rejuvenate Rundle Mall. Other public space projects have also aimed to create a CBD that is just as much a destination as it is a place to work. These include Adelaide City Council’s plan for a redeveloped Victoria Square, the development of one of Australia’s newest and most technologically advanced hospitals and a state of the art health and medical research institute. Our governing bodies have also shown some innovation on the ‘crowdsourced placemaking’ front, with the Adelaide City developing their ‘Picture Adelaide’ website and iPhone app and the State Government’s launch of Australia’s first Integrated Design Commission and the 5000+ Integrated Design Strategy. The Property Council has also entered this space in a large way with the development of the Propertyozsa.org site. However all this has not been without great opposition from the anti-change brigades, who would like to see Adelaide remain in the 1950s. These groups are responsible for the defeat of the Victoria Racecourse redevelopment which forced horse racing to retreat to the suburbs. They have also ensured our abundance of parklands remain underutilised wastelands. If these groups are continually allowed to misrepresent public opinion and stymie progress of the city, all of these initiatives would be for nothing. Our youth will continue to disappear across the borders and the seas, and Adelaide will secure its title as God’s waiting room. If you liked this article, see more like it at propertyozsa.org
the education revolution Armin Atighi Badge Construction
In 2009 following the Global Financial Crisis the Australian Federal Government introduced the Building Education Revolution as a major component of its widespread stimulus package to counteract the dismal economic outlook. The Government recognised the significant multiplier effect of investment in the construction industry and also understood that the industry could respond quickly as it was important that this investment circulated through the economy quickly. The BER program commences in early 2009 and involved construction works to approx 700, K-12 Primary Schools in the form of standard template projects that ranged through Multi Purpose Halls, Libraries & General Learning Areas, Class rooms and refurbishment works. This investment was managed through the office of the Coordinator General who was also responsible for the statutory approval process to facilitate a rapid start to the construction process. The estimated federal funding for this stimulus package was approx $12.4 billion nationally and $1.2B for South Australia alone. This equated to approx $3m for every primary school with over 400 students. The benefits of the BER program from the builder’s point of view was that it provided a life line in a dark period of time with minimal construction activity throughout Australia as financial markets contracted. It provided essential cashflow, secured employment, focused on training and staff development. The ripple effect of this stimulus activity was felt throughout all tiers of the construction industry. From a candidates point of view the BER program assisted in creating a significant volume of opportunities as recruitment activities peaked with a 51% spike in demand for candidates with educational and construction expertise.
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From a schools and local communities point of view the BER program was generally viewed as a success. The program allowed the schools to secure facilities that they would not otherwise have funding for and would have waited many years into the future to achieve under the pre-BER model. The program enabled many new state of the art facilities to replace previous transportables which were considered outdated. In conclusion the BER program was generally viewed as a success in terms of maintaining employment levels across the industry and provided a platform for the younger professionals to bridge the experience gap as well as assisting organisations to diversify their skills in delivering design and construct projects. The program promoted the integration of the local communities and the construction industry in delivering some well needed facilities.
new royal adelaide hospital Lewis Hewton Cundall
Do we want world class assets, ones that reflect future community needs, activate our city, foster future growth and launch us into the 21st century? The new Royal Adelaide Hospital (nRAH), scheduled to open its doors in 2016, is an asset for our State which will deliver on all of these things. Cundall, specialist environmental sustainable design (ESD) consultants, has been engaged to deliver the ESD services and Green Star ‘Design’ and ‘As Built’ ratings (under the GBCA’s Healthcare tool) for what will be one of the greenest developments in South Australia. So why is the nRAH development so exciting for me personally and to Cundall as ESD consultants? The hospital will be energy efficient. Trigeneration systems will utilise waste heat from energy generators to provide heating and cooling to the building, helping to provide a 15% reduction in onsite carbon emissions and a 35% peak energy demand reduction. Facades will be positioned to optimise natural daylight penetration, reducing the demand for artificial light while providing excellent external views to most inpatient areas. Combined with extensive energy monitoring and metering, initiatives like these will help make an energy and carbon efficient hospital. The hospital will be water efficient. This means rainwater and stormwater harvesting (at least 30% of the Facility’s water consumption is to be sourced from non-potable water), efficient fixtures and fittings, extensive monitoring and metering, all of which will help to minimise potable water demands. Importantly, the hospital will create an environment for healing. Internal gardens, courtyards and piazzas will provide places of respite, environmentally friendly finishes will improve the indoor environment quality, all inpatient rooms will be single beds with openable windows offering views to the surrounding parklands or the Torrens River. The value of the healing environment created will go far beyond what is available today and enough cannot be said for what it will give back to patients, staff and visitors alike.
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The development will go beyond delivering a world class level of healthcare to SA by supporting new opportunities in the wider community. In particular, the strategic location of the project will play a key role in the vitalisation of Adelaide’s West End and Riverbank precincts. This increased activity will create the need to support and service a new demand and provide valuable growth opportunities for local business. The new Royal Adelaide Hospital is a vision for the future. The site can accommodate a 30% expansion of the hospital while still providing 2ha of open space on site. While in delivery, SA Health Partnership (SAHP) will, under a 35-year contract, design, build and maintain the hospital in as new condition, for a fixed price, and achieve value for money to taxpayers by transferring operating risk to the private sector. At the end of 35 years, this in effect translates to the public being given back a hospital in brand new condition! If, in 1976, we were given that same opportunity but with the ability to consider the current quality of facilities and services, and in addition, what a new development can give back to the city’s future growth, the answer seems simple. The new Royal Adelaide Hospital, a world class asset, an asset for the future, an asset to activate our city, an asset to support future growth and launch us into the 21st century.
event wrap up
08 July 2011 End Of Financial Year Celebreation
The third Future Directions event for 2011 saw around 100 young professionals from across the property industry celebrate the end of the 2010-11 financial year, a year which may prove to be a turning point for the City of Adelaide with decisions made on the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval, the Riverbank Precinct and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.
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The upstairs balcony bar at PJ O’Brien’s Irish Pub, considered by some to be an ‘interesting choice’ of location, proved an unexpected hit with a great selection of beers keeping the crowd in high spirits throughout the night. After an introductory speech from newly elected Future Directions Deputy Chair Jared Toms, attendees had the opportunity to kick back and network with industry peers to discuss current affairs and build the foundations of key relationships with the movers and shakers of the future. The Future Directions Committee would like to thank everyone who attended for making it a great night and also extend a big thank you to our sponsors for the event: Area Constructions, KBR and the University of South Australia.
Proudly Sponsored by:
event snaps
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save the date thursday 3 november
site tour of adelaide studios
The future of the South Australian film industry Join us for an informative and captivating tour of the features of this state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar facility set to reignite the South Australian film industry.
friday 9 december
Future Directions Christmas Regattas, Adelaide Convention Centre
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contact future directions POSTAL ADDRESS
Property Council of Australia 142 Gawler Place Adelaide, SA 5000 Tel: 08 8236 0900 Fax: 08 8223 6451 www.propertyoz.com.au/sa www.propertyozsa.org twitter.com/propertyozsa
get involved
SEND YOUR CONTACT DETAILS TO ksmith@propertyoz.com.au