Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PRECASTER
ACN 051 987 181 • ISSN 1037-9908 www.nationalprecast.com.au
In This Issue
Pg 1 St Mary’s Cathedral
Pg 2 Cotter Dam Discovery Trail
Pg 4 The New Royal Children’s Hospital
Pg 5 10 Years Of Precast
Holy trinity
A heritage-listed 1865 sandstone cathedral and its
Pg 3 Jacobs Street Bankstown Apartments Pg 6 What’s New In Precast staid, 1930s rear addition have received a total new
look thanks to the clever addition of a third uniting
element – with award winning results.
...continued on page 2
Location: Perth WA
Developer: Roman Catholic Church
Head contractor: EMCO Building
Architect: Peter M Quinn Architect
Engineer: BG & E Consulting Engineers
Precast manufacturer: Delta Corporation
An architect’s
Modernist
approach with
precast
With the construction of 25,000 homes
per year required to keep up with
the demand for Sydney’s expanding
population, the challenges faced by
Modernism have resurfaced in a local The plan of the building is configured as a “T”. According to Chris Parsons from Hanson
context. The head of the “T” defines the street edge and Precast, the structure of the building is
faces west. It is comprised of narrow cross- comprised of 1055 precast units. 376 off-
In describing the project, architect Philip Thalis section single level apartments serviced by a form precast wall panels (or 5,694m2) were
writes, “A central tenet of Modernism, beyond lobby at each level. Its stepped and modulated used, which ranged between 150mm and
style, was the provision of mass economical street facade of precast with projecting 200mm thick. The floor structure included 606
housing, constructed of authentic techniques.” balconies angled to north and overlaid with precast hollowcore planks (4,865m2) which
metalwork elements regularise the facade, were 150, 200 and 250mm thick, together
According to Michael Lewarne and Angelo
screen the western sun and provide privacy with 73 Transfloor panels (640m2) which were
Korsanos from Redshift Architecture & Art,
from adjoining balconies. 65mm and 75mm thick with 150mm wide by
precast concrete with its systematic approach
180mm high upstands.
to construction provides an efficient and cost Two storey crossover units located in the
effective solution for supplying housing to downstroke of the “T” are oriented to north and Talking about the role of precast in the project,
Sydney’s expanding population. are consolidated around two corridors over 6 Redshift believes that the use of precast
floors. The overall composition is articulated complemented the organisational efficiency of
“The apartment building at Jacobs Street
as a series of paired balcony bays attached to the building with a speed of erection that can
Bankstown exemplifies many of Modernism’s
a linear block with the deep slots between the only be achieved by prefabricated construction.
principles, providing 54 apartments organised
bays providing light and ventilation to the depth “Precast is a natural match to the systematic
in a highly efficient arrangement with one lift
of the plan. Built over a landscaped podium approach of the building and the principles of
core and only two corridors over nine floors.
for communal use incorporating three levels of Modernism” says Angelo.
Almost all units are cross ventilated with a high
carparking, the character of this portion of the
proportion of service areas located on perimeter Location: Bankstown NSW
building is more directly characterised by its
walls, avoiding the necessity for mechanical Developer: Gridcorp
precast assembly.
ventilation. The character of the building is Architect: Hill Thalis Architecture & Urban
developed from its organisation, construction, Projects and Redshift Architecture &
assembly and response to solar orientation”, Art (working as architects in association).
says Angelo. Engineer: Central Engineers
Builder: JSN Hanna
Precast manufacturer: Hanson Precast
NATIONAL PRECASTER NUMBER 60 • MAY 2011
Precast saves time and A massive 350 tonne mobile crane was transported to the site from
Sydney to lift the 32 tonne precast shell beams into position. This
money for good health required part of the site to be shut to accommodate the crane as it
needed to be set up adjacent to the structure. The exact location of
Precast has provided a cost saving solution for the new $1 billion
the crane, located on a suspended slab, required complex engineering
Royal Children’s Hospital currently under construction in Victoria.
checks as the construction loads were large.
Victorian company Westkon Precast has been involved with the project
Access wasn’t the only challenge on the project. The precast
for the level two transfer slab and has been responsible for the design,
manufacturer also deviated from its usual process of using beams
manufacture, installation and certification of the structure.
which supported the hollowcore and slabs. “The beams on this project
With Lend Lease honoured with the 2010 Excellence in Health and had a special feature where they were hollow. Normally precast beams
Safety Award by the Master Builders Association of Victoria for its are pre-stressed, however these beams were manufactured as shell
work on the project, a high standard of safety was required for all beams that were post-tensioned after the in-situ screed had been
companies involved. poured,” Lorenzo says.
“Lend Lease had high standards on safety and everything had to be Due to the large scale and complexity of the project, the precast
planned and documented. This was a complicated structure that we company spent around three months involved in pre-design work
had to build in stages to meet their construction program and site determing the logistics of the installation. This ensured as smooth a
access,” says Lorenzo Cremasco from Westkon Precast. Lend Lease process as possible.
had originally designed the transfer slab as a structural steel and
A substantial amount of time was spent by all parties in completing the
in-situ concrete design, but early in the project explored the idea of
certification of the structure, with the precaster working in consultation
using precast concrete for the columns, beams and hollowcore planks
with Lend Lease and Irwinconsult to ensure it met Lend Lease’s
for the whole transfer slab.
requirements and adhered to the necessary engineering requirements.
Initially, Lorenzo says the project seemed daunting due to its large
The new hospital will open at the conclusion of stage one of the
scale, but after breaking it down into smaller parts, Lend Lease
project in 2011. Stage two will be completed in 2014.
realised how much time could be saved using precast. “It is not
uncommon for similar slabs, if done in-situ, to take double the length
Location: Parkville, Melbourne
of time to construct when compared to what we achieved,” he says.
Client: Department of Health, Victoria
“The fact that it’s manufactured off-site means it has good Architect: Billard Leece Partnership and Bates Smart
tolerances, the columns are all exposed so you have good Engineer: Irwinconsult
finishes and there is minimal work on site, whereas if in-situ, Builder: Lend Lease
there’ll be a lot more patching going on at the end.” Precast manufacturer: Westkon Precast
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NATIONAL PRECASTER NUMBER 60 • MAY 2011
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NUMBER 60 • MAY 2011