Northrop

St. Benedict's Catholic College is a co-educational high school with campuses in Oran Park, Camden, Picton, and The Oaks, serving 950 students. As part of its Masterplan, the college recently built a new hall and harmony garden on its campus. The hall brings two school communities together and offers versatile spaces for activities such as basketball, netball, and volleyball, with a capacity for over 1,000 spectators. The facility also includes a fully equipped fitness center and adaptable classrooms.

A highlight for the structural team was tackling the complex steel roof design which included 27m spans. Project cost-savings were achieved in our designs through the use of lightweight framing in the main hall. We also collaborated closely with the civil engineer to avoid piling the building and designed an economical slab on ground in instead.

The sustainability team, working on its first NCC2019 project, developed new tools and collaborated with the architect to meet the updated requirements and resolve issues with wall construction and thermal bridging. The project start date coincided with code changeover dates, so the team determined NCC2019 and 2016 solutions and costings to ensure budget allowances for whichever compliance path was required.

The hall features a complete audio-visual system to meet the needs of both school communities. The electrical team worked closely with the architect to design a system that accommodates the hall's passive uses (exams, assemblies, and flexible learning) while not interfering with its active uses (sports and physical education).

To hear more about this project, contact Brad Whiting - Structural Engineer on (02) 4226 3333.