Milestone reached at Gold Coast campus

One of the biggest construction sites on the Gold Coast has reached a milestone with Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Lee expected to shovel the last structural concrete into place for the second building at Southern Cross University’s expanding Gold Coast campus today.

The ‘topping-out’ ceremony will be celebrated by the Southern Cross University Chancellor The Hon John Dowd AO QC, University staff, and Hutchinson Builders this afternoon from 3pm.

“We are delighted to have reached this milestone on such a significant building,” Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Lee said.

“The building is at the cornerstone of the continued expansion of the Gold Coast campus and is expected to be operational for session 1, 2013.

“It marks an exciting time in the University’s development after funding was received for a third building at the campus late last year.”

Tenders for the third building are still being called.

Building B is a 10-storey building which will feature clinical laboratories for nursing and midwifery, laboratories for occupational therapy students and physiology, anatomy and biomechanics laboratories.

With a gross floor area of 15,417m2, the building will also house teaching and learning spaces and offices as well as computer rooms, meeting rooms and a student lounge.

The new building will include a Wellness Clinic, located on the ground floor and this will be open to the public and will offer a range of health practitioner services, as well as supporting student learning and clinical research.

The specifications of Building B are impressive. Almost 18,000 tonnes of concrete have been used in its construction, while 1430 tonnes of reinforcing steel have also been laid. A further 152 tonnes of structural steel have been used.

With the building still to be fitted out, builders will need to install more than 420 doors including more than 1600 hinges, while almost 200 whiteboards and pinboards will also be erected.

Another talking point about the new building is its innovative rainwater collection system. It’s designed to capture water from the completed and planned buildings on the site and store it underneath. The water is then distributed back to other buildings for amenities water.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITY Media are invited to attend the topping-out ceremony from 2.45pm at the Gold Coast campus. Meet in the lobby of Building A (completed building). Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Lee will shovel the cement into place at Level 11 plant room and will be available for interviews afterwards. Photo: Professor Peter Lee.