Award win for delivering a new aged care living project

13 September 2013 - Aurecon won Best Construction/Engineering Project under AUD 100 million at the Australian Institute of Project Management (Queensland), Project Management Achievement Awards on Friday 6 September 2013. The project was entered as a joint submission with our client Blue Care.

 “This is first development of its kind for Blue Care and the Azure Blue Redcliffe facility provides a new model for ‘ageing in place’,” said Susie Pearn, Project Director. “With the fully-integrated campus providing accommodation choices of independent living apartments, optional in-home care services and a residential aged care facility.”

The project scope includes 122 independent living units across three buildings and a separate residential aged care facility with 96 high-care beds. The development promotes active lifestyles and fosters a sense of community through recreation facilities including extensive sub-tropical landscaped grounds, swimming pool, salon, BBQ facilities, gymnasium, café, function room and meeting rooms.

Aurecon's role on the project was as project manager, contract superintendent and furniture, fittings and equipment (FF&E) manager. The Aurecon team overcame a number of key challenges to deliver the project and provide great value for the not-for-profit operator including:

• Managing the project scope with multiple Blue Care internal stakeholders and the organisational restructuring within Blue Care during the project
• Sign-off, procurement and installation of the FF&E during the organisational restructuring to achieve Blue Care’s occupancy of 15 August 2012

“I firmly believe the completion of the project on time, and under budget, was a direct result of the project management methodology and controls implemented by Aurecon,” said Michael Green, Blue Care, Manager Capital Development.

Through Aurecon’s project management expertise, we were able to deliver a range of benefits for the client and the project delivery. These included:

• Project saving of AUD 12 million from the original budget through strong scope management processes and a further saving of AUD 2.2 million from the revised budget through the construction phase
• 10 additional independent living units were incorporated into the scope at Schematic Design phase with no increase to project budget
• Early occupation of the independent living units

Since project completion, Aurecon has returned to the facility to manage defects and to undertake a post occupancy evaluation (POE).  The POE involved extensive interviews and surveys of Blue Care staff and the campus residents.  The findings from the POE are now instrumental to Blue Care’s corporate learning and are being used to drive improvements for Blue Care’s future Azure Blue developments.  Aurecon is applying this learning as part of their current engagement as project manager for Blue Care’s proposed Azure Blue Kawana development.

Aurecon project team members who collected the award included Susie Pearn, Project Director, Lavinia Buckley, Project Manager design and procurement and Tanya Syddall, Project Manager commissioning, furniture, fittings and equipment, post occupancy evaluation and defects.

For more information please contact:

Susie Pearn
Technical Director, Environment & Advisory
T +61 7 3173 8787
E susie.pearn@aurecongroup.com