Macquarie’s Property team have announced a new approach to the way certain major campus refurbishments will move forward in 2015, with Level 2 of the Australian Hearing Hub being prepared to accommodate affected staff.
“The challenge every time major refurbishment takes place is the need to partially or fully decant staff to another area,” said Property Director, Mark Broomfield. “No matter how well planned and managed, it causes significant disruptions to the staff who work there.”
The new decant approach will allow staff to work unaffected in fresh, modern facilities in the Australian Hearing Hub while refurbishment of their current workspace is completed.
The new approach will also see construction duration reduced by half, saving both time and time-related costs.
“The upgrade of an entire building can take up to two years or longer,” said Mark. “Decanting staff should help to reduce this period to around half of the time and save the University almost five per cent in construction costs. When you consider the combined capital cost for construction works is in the order of $37M, this equates to a saving of around $1.85M a year.”
Accommodating staff in the Australian Hearing Hub also allows additional scope in building works and quality assurance that would not be possible in an occupied building.
“Working in an occupied space limits the opportunity to fully refurbish and potentially repurpose or expand a building,” said Mark. “Working without these constraints means works can be designed and constructed as a single project allowing for continuity of resources, reducing the risk of time, cost and quality issues.”