As we enter the second half of 2017, digital innovations and technology continue to challenge the construction industry with new and improved ways to plan, design and build.
Here’s our wrap-up on some of the top articles that were published in June across the construction space:
3D Printing and Clever Computers Could Revolutionise Construction
Set in the heart of Cambridge, the chapel at King’s College is rightly famous. Built in the Gothic style, and finished in 1515, its ceiling is particularly remarkable. From below it looks like a living web of stone. Few know that the delicate masonry is strong enough that it is possible to walk on top of the ceiling’s shallow vault, in the gap beneath the timber roof.
These days such structures have fallen out of fashion. They are too complicated for the methods employed by most modern builders, and the skilled labour required to produce them is scarce and pricey. Now, though, new technologies are beginning to bring this kind of construction back within reach.
Paperless Construction Site: Digital JSA and SWMS
As a manager or supervisor of a worksite, it’s your responsibility to maintain correct practices and processes to ensure the health of safety of your staff and any other person on site or in the surrounding area.
By identifying and documenting potential hazards on a worksite, supervisors and managers are able to prevent unsafe situations, identify and minimise risks and uphold a safe working environment.
Seeing the light: How office designers are finding ways to boost productivity
It’s every employer’s dream — a group of employees who are not only happy in their jobs, but productive as well. For many companies, it’s a dice game, where a winning throw means they’re going to attract quality workers who will engage in meaningful collaboration.
More firms are realising, however, that this is something that doesn’t need to be left to chance. Productivity can be achieved with a little design magic — from layout to lighting — that makes the office a more enticing alternative to telecommuting from home or choosing another employer.
Architects and designers recognized in 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours
The Council of the Order of Australia has recognized three architects, a landscape architect and an interior designer in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
The late Stephen Ashton was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) “for significant service to architecture through management and design roles, to professional organizations, and to motor sport.”
Is Australia At Risk Of Its Own London Fire?
London was engulfed in tragedy as a 24-storey apartment block went up in flames, killing multiple people and leaving others with injuries and trauma. Media outlets around the globe have covered the situation since the beginning, speculating on the total number of dead and the real cause behind the inferno.
It has left Master Builders Queensland asking the question: Is Queensland, or Australia, at risk?
4 Projects Using CFS To Solve Time, Budget and Access Constraints
Tight project schedules. Budget limitations. Difficult access on site. SBS Group worked closely with the construction teams to solve these challenges with easier and faster CFS pre-fabricated alternatives.
It’s Official: Victoria One Tops Out As Melbourne’s Tallest Skyscraper
The core structure of Melbourne’s under construction sky-scraper Victoria One has topped out at a height of 271 metres, officially making it the tallest structure in the CBD.
Built by Probuild for Jeff Xu’s Golden Age Group and designed by architects Elenberg Fraser, Victoria One is a slender and complex structure that will house Melbourne’s largest internal car-stacking machine.
East Werribee, Australian Education City and What To Do About Public Transport
100,000 jobs, 80,000 residents and 50,000 students. They’re big numbers and if it goes ahead, the Australian Education City in Werribee East will revolutionise Melbourne’s West.
The Herald Sun has been running an interesting week-long series on what Melbourne might look like in future and in John Masanaukas’ – the Herald Sun’s City Editor – piece on Australian Education City we learnt that a decision on the proposal is due to be made later in the year.
Stepping dramatically away from how we’ve built new university campuses in the past – think Monash Clayton and La Trobe Bundoora, expansive areas dedicated to education & research – Australian Education City’s headline numbers point to a highly integrated, multi-use precinct which would likely result in abnormal transport demands.