Built Environs' Green Boost To Adelaide's Show Grounds
18-07-2010 - Construct - June 2008
South Australian construction company, Built Environs, has started work on the vision to transform the look, amenity and green credentials of the Adelaide Showgrounds at Wayville.
Built Environs is the design and construction contractor for the $35 million new exhibition centre building project at the showgrounds. Built Environs Chief Executive Officer, Bill Gill, said the new building, on the Goodwood Road frontage previously occupied by the now-demolished Centennial and Duncan halls, would be a major boost for the showgrounds as an exhibition venue.
"It will add 10,000 square metres of display floor space, the majority of which will be column-free. The new building will be joined to the existing Jubilee Hall to create one of the biggest exhibition areas in Adelaide," Mr Gill told Construct magazine.
"A gallery with large movable doors will run between the new building and Jubilee Hall, allowing them also to operate as combined or separate spaces. The new building will accommodate over 7,000 people and this rises to approximately i 4,000 people when combined with Jubilee Hall," he continued.
The new exhibition area will have multiple water features, elevated catwalks, a mezzanine and retail spaces.
The exterior of the new building will match a reclad Jubilee Hall to give them both a unified look. The new building's exterior will be enhanced by a row of display cabinets that will be placed along its Goodwood Road frontage. These will feature aspects of the showgrounds' agricultural past such as hay bales and tractors.
Hidden behind angular feature walls, the two amenities blocks at the new building's northern entrance will add to its attractive look devised by Built Environs.
Built Environs' main structural challenge with the new building has been to transport 70-metre clear-span trusses to the site where they will be bolted together on the ground and erected complete to support the roof of the exhibition building.
Mr Gill told Construct magazine that this roof would become the source of an important environmental bonus for the Adelaide Showgrounds. Another environmental feature of the new building will be the use of evaporative air conditioning.
"All rainwater falling on the roof will be harvested in underground tanks, with a capacity of 3,500,000 litres, to be installed north of the new building. This stored water will supply the irrigation needs for the 26 hectares of the showgrounds," he said.
Online - Built Environs
Online - The Australian Institute of Building