Brisbane’s Western Corridor is one of Queensland’s fastest-growing regions. Situated within the Western Corridor, Augusta State School was opened in 2011 with a student population of just under 300 students. By 2017, student population totalled over 878 with a catchment area that includes Augustine Heights, Brentwood Rise, Brookwater and small areas of Redbank Plains and Bellbird Park.
On behalf of the Department of Education, INTREC were engaged by Steele Wrobel to undertake the construction of a new state-of-the-art, two-storey, eight classroom facility with bathrooms, a teacher’s area and future space for additional classrooms. The project was designed to accommodate for the rapid increase in enrolments at the growing school.
The works consisted of two suspended 900m2 slabs, which were built on a steep site, with eight-metre-high concrete columns supporting the first-floor deck. Two working platforms were cut into the side of the embankment for access and buildability.
The project required highly detailed falsework to be set up on the steep embankment to support first floor formwork, with a mix of CFC and metal cladding wrapping the exterior of the building. A large outdoor play area accompanied detailed landscaping, with the external walkways connecting with the new building, existing school classrooms.
The project encompassed a high volume of challenging civil works to ensure the bearing capacity of the pad footings at the centre of the embankment.
The site was near existing school buildings, which presented many challenges for the project team. INTREC endeavoured to minimise disruptions to the School by carefully timing noisy works and ensuring deliveries occurred outside of peak drop-off and pick-up times.
‘Approachability’ is a value at the forefront of the INTREC ethos and has been instrumental to the success of INTREC’s diverse range of Education projects. Partnering with the Department of Education to deliver projects at over 13 schools in Queensland over the past two years, INTREC is committed to using approachability, communication and innovation to deliver state-of-the-art facilities that contribute to the quality education of future generations.
