May 22 2009
The Queensland State Archives project won the State Award for Technology and Innovation at the AIB Professional Excellence in Building awards on 22 May.
The Australian Institute of Building (AIB) is the leading institute for building and construction professionals, and the awards are presented for projects that reflect the highest standards of building.
Laing O’Rourke Project Manager Tony Pennisi congratulated the team for a job well done.
"The entire project team worked collaboratively with the client to ensure that the project was built using the latest technology, to an excellent standard of finish and completed ahead of schedule," Tony said.
The Technology and Innovation award is given to a project that demonstrates excellence in management and organisation of the construction process and that has taken an innovative approach to meet a particular element of the project.
The Queensland State Archives is a purpose-built facility to house the largest and most significant documentary heritage collection in Queensland. The repositories that house the records are maintained at a constant temperature of 20 degrees celsius, with a relative humidity of 50 per cent - the ideal conditions for the safe storage of irreplaceable state records and heritage.
The team faced numerous challenges including installing continuous 70-metre lengths of roof sheeting; the timely and cost effective construction of a three-million litre storage tank; and upgrading and integrating the new and old services in a highly contained environment.
The team ‘piloted' a number of new technologies, including 4D Modelling - a first for Project Services and a first for Laing O'Rourke in Australia - and e-Contract, an emerging web-based project administration system.
Environmental initiatives included a trial of green concrete - a joint initiative between Laing O'Rourke, Project Services, Boral and the University of Queensland - and the design and construction of a sustainable water harvesting system.
The project was completed to a very high standard and was completed almost two months ahead of schedule.
The Queensland State Archives project also recently received an Australian Institute of Architects sustainability commendation in the Brisbane region.
