Having opened in January 2019, the new Bardia Public School (formerly Ingleburn North Public School) boasts 40 new flexible classrooms, 4 special education classrooms, special programs rooms, a covered outdoor learning area, new library, hall and canteen.
Woolacotts Consulting Engineers were engaged to provide structural and civil engineering design services on the new state-of-the-art educational facility which has been developed to accommodate projected enrolment growth within the area. The total upgrade project had a budget of $35 Million and was executed on time, ready for use from the first school term in 2019.
The existing school facility continued operation during construction to limit disruption to current students, and was demolished once the new school was operational to make way for a sports field, basketball court and additional outdoor learning areas.
Strong relationships with Architects leading to collaborative engineering solutions
The innovative architectural design of Bardia Public School posed several civil and stormwater related challenges. Woolacotts responded to these challenges by proposing effective engineering design solutions.
The architectural concept of the main structure known as the ‘doughnut’ was designed to achieve a central courtyard play area and learning space. The surrounding structure provides a physical barrier with the intent of increasing student safety, while decreasing external distractions. This unique layout provided a great solution to the functionality of the school, however also presented a challenge to achieve a design that would satisfy local government policies for stormwater management of the site.
Early within the concept stages of the design, Woolacotts undertook an analysis of the major 100-year ARI storm event of the doughnut structure and internal courtyard areas. Several detailed pavement levels, layouts, and separation between buildings were analysed to develop a dedicated stormwater overland flow path.
This engineering detail was coordinated with the architectural team at the beginning of the project and integrated within the design which ultimately allowed the architectural vision to be maintained whilst providing a functional engineering design solution.”
– James Georgiades, Woolacotts Civil Engineer
Throughout the project our strong relationships with the project architect and detailed knowledge of council requirements allowed the Woolacotts team to develop effective design solutions in order to deliver the new structure on time and within budget.
Featured above: A video walk-through of the new Bardia Public School by School Infrastructure NSW
Structural and Civil Engineering innovation
The intricate roof structure of the new facility provided a great opportunity for the Woolacotts team to utilise advanced engineering technologies to deliver a structure that met design requirements whilst being completely functional and streamlined for construction purposes.
3D modelling (BIM) of the roof structure was used extensively to optimise the structural framing at interfaces of the various planes. Our Structural and Civil teams also worked closely together utilising BIM modelling to minimise retaining walls and folds along the interface between building structure and civil pavement.
Woolacotts provided standardised detailing and reinforcement for the perimeter beams to accommodate all the possible edge types conditions including step downs, strip drains, sliding doors and cavity rebates to simplify construction and improve both quality and cost efficiency. This was particularly evident for the connection of the library roof to the curved building.
Expert civil and structural engineering solutions were created by the Woolacotts team throughout the design of Bardia Public School. These included:
- Balancing of cut and fill volumes which also assisted in the control of contaminated fill.
- Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) features such as grassed swales and stormfilter cartridges, minimising the number of stormwater pits required by maximizing catchment areas through surface level design.
- Integrating a combined rainwater tank, on-site detention system and stormwater quality treatment device in a single unit tank saving on cost and excavation, while negating the need for multiple independent systems.
- Dedicated penetration zones in the beam elements to simplify co-ordination for services installation.
To learn more about our extensive experience in the education sector, head to our projects page here.
