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Computershare, Melbourne

A newly renovated home in a refurbished heritage warehouse

Buildcorp Victoria recently completed the new workplace for valued client Computershare in a refurbished heritage warehouse that used to be the old Yarra Falls Spinning Mills. The fit-out spans 3 levels, including a feature staircase and an inner-tenancy bridge. The building has been re-energised to offer a modern, highly flexible and innovative workspace where people will want to learn, connect and collaborate.

Buildcorp were appointed as Head Contractor for the Computershare Yarra Falls Office Fit-out after an extensive ECI process.

The fit-out of the existing and newly refurbished heritage Spinning Mills warehouse includes:

  • Staircase and bridge by subcontractor Active Metal
  • Heart Space – including a coffee bar and seating area
  • 30no. meeting rooms
  • Boardroom
  • Kitchen & breakout spaces
  • Terrace and entertainment space
  • Collaboration spaces
  • 400 workstations
  • Library on each floor
  • Branding and signage

The key element in this project is the structural steel feature staircase and architectural bridge delivered by Active Metal – offering a visually and physically connected open-plan workplace. The bridge is a 14 meter-long horizontal connection across the workplace, finished with glazed balustrades and 56 decorative stainless steel cables giving the aura of a suspension bridge, catching and reflecting the abundant natural light in the atrium. The plate steel balustrades double as a structural element of the switchback staircase.

Given this is a historic building, we needed to avoid any structural connections from the bridge and stair to the brickwork. To overcome this, we introduced a self-supported system with spreading beams on top of the existing slab structure and covered them with a platform. We critiqued the supporting design to avoid columns under the landing which would have interrupted the flow of the platform space.

The Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) process allowed us to work with Computershare and the consultant team to achieve a $1.1m saving whilst maintaining the design intent. We created early procurement packs to further alleviate programme pressures. We managed to pre-order all the mechanical equipment which meant we had units on site day one of the project’s commencement. These are typically a driver of the critical path and would normally arrive weeks into the project programme. We also procured the stair early to de-risk the programme and devised a solution to handover a workspace early to relive operating pressures for Computershare.

Majority of the project was constructed in a non-live environment except for the final month of the project where we had Computershare staff in the workspace that was handed over early.

Client

Computershare

Architect

HASSELL

Contract sum

$14.0m

Program

22 weeks

Completion

January 2022