It took 48 weeks (including six of wet weather) and 42 slab pours over 20 floors before Buildcorp’s second Urbanest Student Accommodation project, Urbanest Darling Square, topped-out at its highest floor.
Building on the lessons learnt from the 12-storey Urbanest Darlington project, Buildcorp’s Contracting team progressed the build of the 500 bedroom / 20 storey tower with a faster, optimised program. With a completion date on track for December 2016, the roof slab was poured in May and the tower cladding is 80% complete. Running concurrently, the fit-out of the tower’s lower floors is progressing well with level four completed mid-August.
Buildcorp was initially engaged in an Early Contractor Involvement arrangement to manage the design and provide buildability advice to mitigate any risks from an early stage. Extensive 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) of the rooms was used to design the building from the inside out. This allowed the team to firstly design the ‘typical’ types of rooms for sign-off, before confirming the exterior curtain wall and structure that would accommodate them. This process also ensured that the subcontractors who supply the services didn’t impact Urbanest’s minimum requirements for the accommodation floor space.
The project is located on a tight 2,000m2 site that forms part of the NSW Government’s 20-hectare transformation of Darling Harbour. To ensure the development is built safely and effectively, Buildcorp works closely with a range of stakeholders including Transport for New South Wales and Transdev, services authorities and Lendlease, who is responsible for the wider Darling Square neighbourhood.
Buildcorp’s Contracting Team General Manager Brad Bennett said:
“Urbanest Darling Square is a significant project for Buildcorp; it is our tallest building to date and a unique opportunity to use a combination of our previous experience and BIM technology to optimise the product, the program and the speed and accuracy of the entire build process.
“The team have been running a responsive construction program that remains on track to complete in December 2016, in time for the 2017 student intake to move in. The entire project team has worked together from the start to design, solve and deliver an exceptional product for our longstanding partner Urbanest.”
