When Duratec arrived at Perth’s Central Park Tower for the first day of works, the team already had a good idea of what lay before them. How? A nine-month ECI phase had allowed them to get to know the building from top to bottom.
Duratec’s flagship building and facade project, the facade refurbishment of Perth’s iconic Central Park Tower, is rapidly transforming the building, and changing the look and feel of the CBD. While works may have begun on site in 2021, what not everyone realises is that Duratec started getting to know the building almost a year before boots hit the ground.
In early 2020, Central Park’s owners engaged Duratec to undertake an early contractor involvement (ECI) process. While they knew the building’s cladding required attention, they also understood the importance of appointing experts to properly assess the asset and design a scope of works.
The overall intention of the ECI phase was three-fold:
- Create and plan a facade transformation to enliven the CBD, while retaining Central Park’s iconic presence within the Perth city skyline
- Identify and appoint a contractor for the works
- Assemble a team of specialists to progress architectural concepts for the cladding replacement, so as to produce detailed pricing and scheduling for the works
During the ECI phase, Duratec worked with various consultants to perform ‘opening up’ and exploratory works on the building. This enabled them to better understand the asset’s condition and devise options for the main works.
The team consisted of the following consultants:
Project manager Bridge 42 (NS Group)
Architect Gray Puksand
Facade engineer Forth Consulting
BCA consultant Milestone Certifiers
Fire engineer Arup
Cost consultant Rider Levett Bucknall
As Central Park was built in 1992, there were no sophisticated architectural drawings for the team to
reference. This meant Duratec was required to complete sophisticated point cloud surveys and cross-reference them with site measurements to provide a solution with tolerances of only two to three millimetres.
ECI phase outcomes
After an exhaustive investigative process, including the preparation of design drawings, Duratec delivered a main works proposal that provided surety for the client with quality and durability at the core.
Highlights included:
- Bespoke access solutions designed to keep the building operational at all times
- Replacement of 7,727 panels
- Works self-performed by Duratec under a design-and-construct model
Upon reviewing the proposal, the owners of Central Park appointed Duratec to undertake the main works.
The ECI phase has led to the following benefits for the clients:
Collaboration
- Innovative project outcomes (as a result of collaborative approach)
Design
- Enriched design solutions (as a result of high quality of information being fed into design process)
- Defined scope and reduced risk of ‘scope creep’
- Improved architectural outcomes (as a result of detailed architectural and engineering drawings)
- Reduction in design risks (as a result of synergising Duratec’s construction expertise into design process)
Quality
- Quality embedded into project through collaborative arrangement of project group
Financial
- Cost certainty
Program
- Detailed and accurate timelines
Safety
- Safety has been designed and engineered from start to finish of lifecycle
Communication
- Building can remain fully operational (as a result of open and clear communication)
- Clarity and understanding for client
Click here for more about early contractor involvement
