High Security Such is the scale of a new high security correctional facility currently under construction in Queensland that A.G. Coombs expects to have a peak workforce of 100 on the project – many of them local. Located near Gatton, about 100km south-west of Brisbane, the Southern Queensland Correctional Precinct first opened in 2012 with a 300bed correctional facility that has accommodated female prisoners since 2018. External site infrastructure was designed and constructed at the time to support a second facility. The new 1500 bed, men’s high security Southern Queensland Correctional Precinct Stage Two project (SQCP-S2), delivered by Managing Contractor John Holland for the Queensland Government, will boost community safety and regional employment opportunities, and will be a modern, purpose-built facility with a focus on rehabilitation to reduce reoffending. Major construction works for the $861 million correctional facility are expected to be completed by the end of 2023 and commissioned in the first half of 2024, weather permitting. It is currently the second largest infrastructure project in Queensland – surpassed only by Brisbane’s Cross River Rail.
In the loop After responding to an open tender Expression of Interest (EOI), and subsequently being short-listed, A.G. Coombs was awarded the mechanical services contract for the project by John Holland in early-2022.
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This is the third recent major project on which A.G. Coombs will work with John Holland – the others being the Victorian Heart Hospital and the Sydney Football Stadium. Drawing on the Group’s extensive experience on those major infrastructure projects, it immediately began work on documenting the mature design by consulting engineer WSP. This work identified several opportunities to add value management to a design that incorporates a large essential energy plant and a combined services loop – including chilled water – that runs for over 1km around the precinct.
This approach to construction addresses several challenges including the site’s regional location, access to materials, and the strict security overlay placed on all building services installed in the facility. Additionally, prefabrication will allow for parallel construction to take place, thereby reducing the hours of onsite construction required and associated health and safety risks for the benefit of the overall construction programme.
Local focus Construction of the mechanical services commenced on site in mid-2022.
As lead services coordinator, A.G. Coombs is leading the building information modelling (BIM) design on the project and will coordinate services through the use of integrated BIM collaboration platform, Revizto.
At the peak of construction in early-2023, Danny McGregor expects a workforce of over 100 A.G. Coombs personnel will have contributed to the project, including trades and project and site management teams.
“This continues our strategy in Queensland to incorporate prefabricated plant and equipment from our integrated prefabrication factory,” says Danny McGregor, A.G. Coombs Queensland Manager.
Drawing on the Group’s established network of subcontractors in the region, A.G. Coombs is employing many of its construction team from Gatton, Ipswich and surrounds, fulfilling the company’s commitment to employ locally.
The finished, prefabricated components will be transported by road to Gatton.
Building Efficiency