Chadstone Shopping Centre Redevelopment

Chadstone Shopping Centre Redevelopment

KNAUF HELPS WITH TECHNICAL ADVICE AND LOGISTICS TO MEET TIGHT DEADLINES ON A COMPLEX PROJECT 

The Chadstone Shopping Centre in south-east Melbourne is once more the largest in Australia, with the completion of a new retail and food area, as well as a ten-storey office building and hotel opening in 2017.

Commenced in 2015, it was imperative to have the new extension to the shopping centre completed by November 2016 to cater for the Christmas shopping season. Another requirement was that the existing parts of the shopping centre must remain open and operational throughout the 15-month redevelopment phase. This meant there was little room for storage of materials – so the logistics of supply and delivery were critical success factors.

Probuild subcontracted internal walls and ceilings to Arc Plastering, a national company specialising in large commercial developments. Arc had not used Knauf products previously, but the critical logistics and supply considerations in the Chadstone project made them open to the supply solutions offered by Knauf.

The Knauf Technical Support team was also able to help with another major challenge faced in the project’s final stages: rapid turnaround of design solutions. Tenant requirements within the retail and food areas would change, so design specifications had to adapt ‘on the fly’. During the latter part of the project, the team was creating new solutions then producing the designs and specifications within a four-hour window. During the last months of the project, when the pressure was on to meet the pre-Christmas shopping deadline, Arc Plastering had up to 130 workers on site at any given time, with shifts working around the clock.

Pat Moore, Director of Arc Plastering said,
“There was a short time to achieve programs, hampered by probably the wettest winter we had in 100 years. We managed this by two-weekly forecasting. We never doubted our ability to get the job done. Our only issue was whether we could get access to do our job.”

Knauf attended daily meetings with Arc, with Andrew Smyth, Knauf’s Commercial Manager, working closely with Arc and Knauf's manufacturing plants to ensure runs of specialised plasterboard to meet building code regulations for fire-safety, acoustics and wet areas were available in sufficient quantities to meet project deadlines. Says Andrew, “On a project like this in a retail environment, it’s critical that building codes are met for the safety of patrons that come to the centre.” Pat Moore says “Knauf had the product available whether it was a two-hour or four-hour fire rating, the acoustic DBA levels that we needed – it was there. And it was there on the shelf and onsite pretty much straight away."

PAT MOORE, DIRECTOR ARC PLASTERING

”Knauf helped greatly with design, delivery and support. And as a result we brought the job in on a deadline. It was pretty tight but we got there… I think the planning and the timing was pretty much perfect and the centre opened on time, so the client was happy and the tenants were happy."

Dave Goss, Project Manager Arc Plastering explained that getting materials in could be difficult. “When we were expecting semi-trailers of plasterboard we’d book crane-lift time. But structural materials like concrete or steel took priority over our materials – because you have to build the external structure before you can do the internals. Knauf was very patient; they always allowed us to keep the trucks onsite. With lack of storage onsite we constantly had to maintain our material levels to keep our employees working. But Knauf helped us out all the way to the end.”

Peter Free, Senior Site Manager, ProBuild concurs.“The relationship that we developed with Knauf and their representatives that worked with our project was strong. They were always present when we needed them. They came to site to work with us directly as well as Arc. The experience that I had personally with Knauf onsite was probably second to none with any other company that I’ve dealt with, and I have no hesitation in recommending Knauf to other contractors.”