In May 2015 the Buildcorp Contracting team achieved Practical Completion of over 400 quality student beds for Urbanest Darlington located at 150 City Road. The project was completed on time after more than 20 months in construction. The site is exceptionally well located directly adjacent to the University of Sydney precinct and Buildcorp worked closely with the University to ensure a safe construction process that had minimal impact on the local community.
A majority of the intelligently designed student bedrooms and cluster apartments were provided with their own bathroom ‘pods’, which were prefabricated off-site to optimise the construction program. As with most Urbanest facilities, there are plenty of common areas for students to interact with one another and foster a sense of community. These include an external courtyard, outdoor cinema and BBQ area, gymnasium, laundry, and separate media and gaming rooms.
Buildcorp used our expertise in Building Information Modelling (BIM) to ensure that the project was delivered on time to the highest quality and safety standards. This emerging technology was a significant asset to the successful delivery of the project and was utilised for the design, documentation and co-ordination of critical building elements, right through to the scheduling of loose furniture for the apartments.
During the early stages of the project a heritage significant area was discovered within one of the buildings marked for demolition. The deteriorating shell of Cypress Hall (dating back to the mid-1800’s) was discovered by Urbanest’s Heritage Architect and the City of Sydney during an inspection. This discovery impacted the development consent, as well as the building’s form, and the team worked hard to resolve the design and restore Cypress Hall to its former glory.
The completed building includes a facility for The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney (CAS). The CAS facility includes the restored portion of Cypress Hall, a Chapel, office space, meeting rooms, outdoor terraces, a kitchen and a library.
Owing to the successful partnership on this project, Urbanest has also now engaged Buildcorp to undertake their next landmark student accommodation project located in Sydney’s Darling Square, due for completion in October 2016.
Watch the development time lapse film here:
