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Forrest Hall Stage 1
Mounts Bay Road & Hackett Drive, Crawley

PROJECT DETAILS

Client

University of Western Australia

Project Manager

Insight Project Services

Architect

Kerry Hill Architect

Builder

Jaxon Construction

Value

$33m

Year Completed

2018

Role

Civil and Structural Consultants

Forrest Hall Stage 1
Mounts Bay Road & Hackett Drive, Crawley

Forrest Hall was designed with a tight construction programme in mind, while balancing against economy and strength. The design team was novated to work with the contractor at 30% of documentation. This allowed for the builder’s input in the construction methodology required to meet the programme and budget. A series of value engineering workshops resulted in a balance of speed and strength. For example, basement walls were constructed of reinforced core-filled blockwork, while upper levels were to be AFS. Slabs were changed from purely insitu concrete, to a precast biscuit system with insitu concrete topping to save time on formwork.

The basement had been completed, and formwork about to be installed for the ground level transfer slab, when the client instructed that an additional floor was to be added to the building. In addition, there was to be no change to the completion and handover dates. This was a significant challenge. BPA stepped up and within a week provided requirements for modification of the basement for pricing. This included new concrete shear walls that also bridged and shared load between existing footings. Detailed design sketches were provided within two weeks and construction continued apace. Some further refinement of details was provided as the detailed 3D analysis model was updated and construction proceeded in those areas.

To address the time lost in the basement and the addition of a floor, alternatives were investigated for the upper floors. As a result, the walls from ground level up were changed to precast. This allowed for a very fast turn around between levels as walls were fabricated off site while the floor below was poured. The project was completed and opened in time for the 2018 university semester. BPA played a pivotal role in the successful delivery of this landmark building.

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