Constructing Environments

Week 03: Site Visits

Site One: Pavilion

• At the first site, we each spread throughout the sites parametres to gain the best possible vantage points to survey the site. In doing so, we each gained different perspectives of the sight and gathered information on what had been completed to date.

The Construction included a multi-story function facility and club-house for the Melbourne University Blues and Blacks Football sides. Materials included predominantly metal, wood and concrete.

**All photos supplied by journal author

Through our exploration of the site, we discovered that both the basement and top slab had been laid, 100mm and 230mm respectively. This was an in situ slab laid on natural clay. Furthermore, their was stripped footing throughout the site, an external frame and lateral bracing for two load-bearing walls. These were to be finished with an Oregon Oak pattern. After hearing from one of Kane’s site managers, I learnt that the building was insulated by a water-proofing membrane which essentially lined each wall which would otherwise be covered by moist soil following the constructions completion.

Sites 2, 3, 4 and 5Following our visit to the Pavilion, we went onto look at four other sites, the Ormond Theology Centre Reception, the Queens College Extension the MSLE Building and the Eastern Precinct Student Centre Link.

At each of these sites, we considered the following:

• Construction Constraints • Links to other Buildings • Construction Type • Structural System(s)• Materials

There were some obvious trends when discussing these factors. Height, space and money tended to be the first-thought for construction constraints. I saw similarities in the concrete structures between the Theological Centre and the Queens college extension. These both included prefabricated concrete in their construction. Similarly, the two building links appeared to use metal and glass as the predominant building features and materials used. In every case, we saw a number of different structural systems used for each building including mass construction and tension to name a couple.

Here’s a few photos that give a bit of an idea of how the day ran

Edward Aitken Student ID - 585164