Queensland

Azure Blue Integrated Living Project

October 2013 ($60M)
Queensland – Australia

This  new retirement, community and residential aged care project is located on a 4 hectare Greenfield site at Carina in Brisbane.

Azure Blue Carina will comprise both a care precinct and a luxury retirement living precinct where residents’ amenities include a swimming pool, café, library, function room and media room.

Residents will have access to a range of hotel services including meals, laundry and cleaning as well as the option of in-home care, provided by Blue Care’s Community Care services.

The site also offers the benefit of a co-located residential aged care facility for 128 residents.

The project consists of a 128 bed High Care aged care facility in two, three storey connected structures, plus administration, community facilities, a commercial kitchen, commercial laundry, loading dock and basement car parking.

It also includes 98 Independent Living Units (ILUs) comprising 22 apartments over four storeys including recreation facilities, café and pool, and basement car parking; 70 Units in three and four storey connected buildings including basement car parking; and six single storey villas (duplexes).

Levels 6 & 8 Refurbishment, Chemistry Building, University of Queensland

February 2012 ($4.3M)
Queensland – Australia

The building is known to contain asbestos and contaminated fume exhaust pipes from years of past operation.  The demolition process was the first construction task in a line of complex, calculated and deliberate activities that were required to be completed in order to achieve a successful handover of this project.

Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland

April 2013 ($32M)
Queensland – Australia

The Centre for Advanced Imaging is a highly advanced medical imaging facility which will include two cyclotron units, used to generate radioactive isotopes for medical imaging equipment. The new structure is being built on the University of Queensland’s St Lucia Campus, and will also include several magnetic resonance imaging units, a full floor of PC2 laboratories, associated teaching and academic spaces and related facilities.

It is the only facility of its type in Australia, one of only a handful in the world and once completed will house a powerful MRI system that is more than twice as strong as any other MRI system currently available in the Southern Hemisphere.

The project includes the extensive refurbishment of the adjoining Gehrmann Building and also the chillers on the nearby Ritchie Building.

This highly advanced project requires specialist construction skills, given the very high operational standards required for cyclotrons and MRI installations. Cockram Construction’s prior experience with cyclotron and advanced medical imaging projects, plus our commitment to deliver a highly skilled project team, were instrumental in reinforcing our reputation as one of a small number of contractors capable of delivering a project of this nature.

Learning Innovation Building, University of Queensland

May 2012 ($12.0M)
Queensland – Australia

The Learning Innovation Building, designed by Richard Kirk Architect, will co-locate multiple teaching, learning and innovation based centres and institutes.

This new building is centrally located within the campus, and features Class II coloured concrete and an innovative louvre façade system.  Focussing on the delivery of advanced learning technologies, the structure has a gross floor area of 2400 square metres over four levels, with associated external works.

The building was constructed within an operating university environment, and is adjacent to highly sensitive seismic facilities in the Richards Building, posing a number of construction challenges.

PC3 Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, University of Auckland

June 2011 ($2.3M)
Auckland – New Zealand

The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences refurbishment at The University of Auckland comprises of 3 buildings, approximately 800sqm per floor, linked via a common ‘spine’ at each of the 6 levels per building. Cockram Construction were engaged to deliver a specialised component of this refurbishment in the form of 100 square metres of PC3 laboratories in Building 502.

When complete, the faculty will accommodate Integrative Physiology, Sensory Physiology, Infection and Immunology with PC3 facility, Bone and Reproduction, Pharmacy and Pharmacology and the ‘Liggins’ Cancer Institute.
The construction took place with a second (main) local contractor delivering the bulk of building refurbishment and required close cooperation amongst the delivery teams.

As with most University projects, the project also had to be delivered within an operating educational environment.

Cockram’s prior experience in these types of projects has resulted in a considerable degree of knowledge transfer, particularly given this was the University’s first PC3 laboratory.

Wesley Hospital Front Entrance

April 2011 ($1.1M)
Queensland – Australia

The Wesley is a prestigious private hospital offering leading health care services to its patients. Owned by Uniting Care Health, this project involved a full remodel of the main front entrance of the hospital.
Works included demolition and reconstruction of the reception area and outpatients areas, the gift shop and associated offices.
Extreme care is needed in projects like this, given that staff and patients continued to access the hospital via this front entrance while the project was under construction. Construction works also needed to be sensitive to the needs of patients in terms of operating hours and noise, and sensitive to any services interruptions that may be required. Vibrations for nearby surgery areas, maintaining constant access for ambulance ingress and egress, and maintaining the ‘good public relations’ values of the hospital with patients, staff and the community were all paramount in Cockram Construction’s approach to this project.

Woolworths Truck Maintenance Facility

March 2011 ($1.25M)
Queensland – Australia

The Woolworths Truck Maintenance facility was designed and constructed for a site at the rear of Woolworths’ major distribution centre at Larapinta, south west of Brisbane.
The facility features sunken service and maintenance pits, prefabricated service modules and cleaning facilities.
These are all housed in a freestanding structure with truck parking, hardstand areas and related service infrastructure all part of the construction project.
Cockram Construction delivered this project for Woolworths Limited via a design and construct contract.

Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation

September 2010 ($813,000)
Queensland – Australia

This project involves a complex and staged handover of a number of areas within the existing operations of the IHBI Building at QUT’s Kelvin Grove Campus. The project includes:

· Reconstruction of the two PC3 Laboratory spaces and associated airlocks on Level 7

· Associated mechanical plant installations on Level 8 (roof level)

· Consequential works in PC2 Laboratory spaces on Level 6

· Associated works in two PC2 Laboratory spaces on Level 4 and

Construction access for equipment and materials delivery and storage to Levels 2 and 3

Cancer Biology Imaging Facility, Institute of Molecular Bioscience University of Queensland

December 2009 ($545,000)
Queensland – Australia

The Institute for Molecular Bioscience is a world-class research institute located at The University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Australia. The IMB’s mission is to decipher the information contained in the genes, proteins and molecules of humans, animals and plants.
Cockram Construction was chosen as the contractor to deliver a new imaging centre within level 6 of the Bioscience Precinct. The works were carried out within a fully operational laboratory facility. These works included:
A new imaging Centre in the north block which is within an operational physical containment level 2 (PC2) certified office of gene technology, regulator (OGTR) and AS2243.3 microbiology laboratory. The project was funded via a $2.5 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) and has been used to establish a world-class imaging centre. The grant will make the ACRF Dynamic Biology Imaging Facility the most advanced imaging research facility in the southern hemisphere. It will allow researchers to study the progression of cancer cells and their interactions with healthy cells.
The imaging centre laboratory walls were built within a PC2 lab environment in which air conditioning systems, service systems and fire & OHS safety systems continued to operate, therefore dust minimization during the project was paramount to avoid any contamination of adjacent workspaces.
The existing ceiling space was to be maintained in a clean state as it was a return air plenum.

PC3 Laboratory James Cook University School of Veterinary Science

January 2010 ($1.0M)
Queensland – Australia

The School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at James Cook University’s research into immunology, pathogens and epidemiology demanded more contemporary laboratory facilities, particularly a new and larger PC3 laboratory.  The project took place in an operating research environment with
users above and below the level on which the lab was constructed. Not one complaint was received from other building users during construction, and the lab users were delighted with the finished project.
A new plant room to provide services infrastructure for the PC3 lab was built  externally and all wall and ceiling penetrations were minimised to achieve the nil air leak status.

University of Qld, Goddard Building, TERN & Insectary PC2 & PC3 Labs

June 2010 ($1.7M)
Queensland – Australia

Cockram Construction were contracted by the University of Queensland to complete the full strip out and demolition of the pre-existing fit-out and services to Level 1 of the Goddard Building, making way for the new fit-out which included the installation of new PC3 & PC2 laboratories, office space and work areas.
The Cockram Construction team brought to the job their depth of experience in constructing PC2 and PC3 laboratories and associated works, and worked closely with the design team to ensure the successful results which were achieved in the final compliance testing.
In addition to the complexity of constructing PC2 & PC3 laboratories, the project had to be delivered within a fully operating university environment. This required a diligent focus on the safety of students, staff and other visitors to the building, by ourselves as contractors but also all subcontractors on the job. Pedestrian and traffic management was handled with minimal interruption to other occupants of the building and surrounding areas.
The quality of built result, the more than satisfactory compliance testing of the PC2 and PC3 labs, plus the management of the operational environmental all contributed to the high level of satisfaction reported by the University of Queensland as client.