Projects | Adelaide Convention Centre, SA, Australia

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A long history of working on the Adelaide Convention Centre precinct

Aurecon has a long history of working on the Adelaide Convention Centre and its forebears, dating back to the 1980s.

The most recent AUD 397 million Adelaide Convention Centre Redevelopment included a major extension to the west of the existing AUD 115 million Central Building as well as the construction of a new plenary hall, now known as the East Building. The West Building was opened in 2015 with the East Building opening in 2017.

The area now comprises three distinct buildings, integrated into a multi-purpose entertainment precinct on the Adelaide Riverbank, an area that showcases the cultural, sporting, education, medical, conference and entertainment facilities of the city.

Video courtesy of Adelaide Convention Centre.

Overcoming challenges of building over an existing operational railway

The Adelaide Convention Centre precinct sits directly over the primary rail network into the Adelaide CBD. This prime real estate that has been unlocked demanded significant innovation to create a safe and constructible structure while maintaining critical public transport infrastructure and keeping people moving during the construction.

The innovative engineering solutions that Aurecon used on the Adelaide Convention Centre Central and West Buildings allowed us to create the imaginative superstructures, hybrid structural solutions and major clear span roof and floor structures within a very short time frame, tight budget and amongst significant site restrictions. The result is a successful redevelopment that is a key convention and tourist attraction within Adelaide, generating significant revenue for the state.

For the East Building, Aurecon replaced the original plenary hall, constructed in the 1980s, with a far larger and more expansive facility.

One of the biggest challenges that the Aurecon team faced was determining how to build the new much heavier building on top of the existing car park and structure over an operating railway to current design standards with no expansion allowance incorporated in the original design.

The team interrogated the existing geotechnical records, increased the capacity of the piles, manipulated the structural load paths and pushed the new building through the existing structures in such a way that the team was able to build the new facility on top of the existing without having to put a single new pile on the ground.

Location

Kaurna Country
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Client

Governement of South Australia – Department for Infrastructure and Transport

Partners

Woods Bagot, Lendlease, Rider Levett Bucknall, Turner and Townsend, Bestec

Aurecon's Role

Building design including structural, civil, geotechnical, environmental, traffic, specialist vibration, fire, rail, wind and facade engineering

Expertise

Building Design, Bridges & Civil Structures, Precincts & City Shaping, Integrated Advisory Solutions

Complete

East Building – 2017
West Building – 2015
Central Building – 2000
Exhibition Hall – 1989

Creating imaginative superstructures using digital tools

The innovative engineering solutions that Aurecon used on the East and West Buildings allowed us to create the imaginative superstructures, hybrid structural solutions and major clear span roof and floor structures within a very short time frame, tight budget and amongst significant site restrictions.

The redevelopment project included extensions to the existing centre and exhibition hall to facilitate an additional 4 300 m² of column-free exhibition space.

The West Building included the expansion of the existing Central Building to the West above the railway lines and linking the new structure to the Montefiore Road Bridge. The West Building spans the constricted rail corridor with two mega trusses, making it more like a bridge than a building. Sophisticated Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools were used to carefully consider design options that would enable the team to safely and economically develop the structure integrated with the architectural vision over an operational rail yard.

The result is a spectacular superstructure at the west entry of the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Innovative digital engineering solutions allowed Aurecon to create the imaginative superstructures. Image courtesy of Adelaide Convention Centre.

Achieving iconic architecture with structural steel solutions

The completed Adelaide Convention Centre Redevelopment has been designed to work autonomously as a single building internally while externally represented as three discrete buildings each with its own identity. The original Central Building was designed with a striking northern glazed facade that embraced the presence of the River Torrens and the Riverbank precinct, being the first facility to truly embrace the picturesque river location.

For the most recent redevelopment, the client’s requirement was for iconic architecture, distinctive and emblematic of South Australia. For the West Building the structural steel solutions that Aurecon provided enabled the project team to deliver an outstanding result that blends an expressed structure with an architectural appearance inspired by the Flinders Ranges in outback South Australia.

Together with Woods Bagot, Aurecon developed design solutions that addressed the structural challenge of a large span bridge and the architectural metaphor of the Flinders Ranges with triangular formed bridge trusses that complement the architectural idea.

The East Building is a state-of-the art facility, showcasing iconic architecture distinctive and emblematic of South Australia. The final solution blends an expressed structure with an architectural appearance inspired by the Remarkable Rocks on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island.

The multipurpose East, Central and West Buildings each has a separate unique external identity but is integrated internally. Carefully staged construction, a highly collaborative approach and a fast track construction programme in advance of design completion were keys to the success of the project.

Adelaide Convention Centre exterior light and pyrotechnic performance. Image courtesy of Adelaide Convention Centre.

The seating tiers in plenary hall can be lifted to transform the space into a column-free dining room floor within minutes. Image courtesy of Adelaide Convention Centre.

Adelaide Convention Centre. Image courtesy of Adelaide Convention Centre.

Interior of Adelaide Convention Centre. Image courtesy of Adelaide Convention Centre.

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Adelaide Convention Centre exterior light and pyrotechnic performance. Image courtesy of Adelaide Convention Centre.

Utilising the existing structure to accelerate programme

The West Building was conceived with the construction programme demanding a rapid start on site. The project team had to tackle the immense challenge of constructing this vision before completion of the general building and roof design.

The solution was innovative in its simplicity. Each primary truss was constructed in two vertical halves to enable a modified high strength construction platform to be built at the plaza level, prior to the completion of the facade and superstructure.

The platform facilitated all subsequent building activities, separated entirely from the operational rail environment below and eliminating further disruption to the rail network. Working in close collaboration with architects Woods Bagot, the design of the East Building was driven by the capacity that was able to be achieved from the existing structure.

Aurecon was able to adjust the form and orientation of the building to match the existing structure, giving the building some of its unique architectural character. The reuse of the existing substructure meant the programme could be accelerated, affording the client more time as well as more resources to improve the offering of the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Some of the highlights of the East Building include: the new pre-function area with elevated views of the riverbank; the flexibility in the space due to the plenary hall seating tiers which are hinged to be lifted off the roof to transform the tiered seating into a column-free dining room floor within minutes; and the rotating drum seating at the rear of the hall.

Achieving economic outcomes for South Australia

The project is a has been designed to be a landmark building on the Adelaide vista and to promotes convention activity and associated income to South Australia, and further strengthens the international standing of the existing facility amongst the most popular convention locations worldwide.

Award-winning

The East Building project has won the following awards for Aurecon:

Winner: 2019 Property Council of Australia Innovation Excellence Awards–Award for Best Tourism & Leisure Development (submitted by Lendlease)
Winner: 2019 Property Council of Australia Rider Levett Bucknall–South Australian Development of the Year (Stages 1 & 2)
Winner: 2018 South Australia Engineering Excellence Award and AEEA Finalist

Winner: 2018 Australian Steel Institute (ASI) Australian Steel Excellence Awards (National Awards)–Buildings – Large ProjectsCategory
Winner: 2018 Australian Steel Institute (ASI) Australian Steel Excellence Awards (South Australia division)–Steel Excellence for Large Projects Category
Winner: 2017 Concrete Institute of Australia–National Excellence Award, Repairs & Rehabilitation Category
Winner: 2017 Concrete Institute of Australia–SA Excellence Award, Repairs & Rehabilitation Category

The West Building project has won the following awards for Aurecon:

Winner:Australian Engineering Excellence – South Australia Division Awards 2016 – Excellence Award (Building and Structures)
Winner: Australian Structural Institute (ASI) Steel Excellence – South Australia Division Awards 2016 – Buildings –Large Projects category
High Commendation: Australian Structural Institute (ASI) Steel Excellence – National Awards 2016 – Buildings – Large Projects

The Central Building project has won the following awards for Aurecon:

Winner: 2002 South Australia Engineering Excellence Award and AEEA Finalist
Highly Commended Association of Consulting Engineers Australia 2002 – Building Infrastructure

A long history of working on the Adelaide Convention Centre precinct

Overcoming challenges of building over an existing operational railway

Creating imaginative superstructures using digital tools

Achieving iconic architecture with structural steel solutions

Utilising the existing structure to accelerate programme

Achieving economic outcomes for South Australia

Award-winning

TAGS

We would love to work with you to bring your ideas to life, so get in touch and we'll get back to you.

A long history of working on the Adelaide Convention Centre precinct

Overcoming challenges of building over an existing operational railway

Creating imaginative superstructures using digital tools

Achieving iconic architecture with structural steel solutions

Utilising the existing structure to accelerate programme

Achieving economic outcomes for South Australia

Award-winning

TAGS

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We would love to work with you to bring your ideas to life, so get in touch and we'll get back to you.