Devine Constructions

The Hamilton Harbour development is creating a new iconic landmark in Brisbane, Queensland; and represents a major milestone for project managers Devine Constructions. Commercial contracts manager George Defteros talks to Jayne Alverca about the development.

An ASX Top 500 company, Devine Limited is recognised as one of Australia's most progressive and diverse property groups, with a 28-year history of residential home building and inner city high-rise apartment developments. Over the past decade, the company has diversified into a range of new areas including the development of large-scale master planned communities and mixed use commercial and retail property development; and it has also established a major construction business, Devine Constructions.

In the state of Queensland, Devine has already made a significant impact on the Brisbane skyline. Since the first high-rise residential apartment complex was completed in 1996, the company has established a leading position as one of Brisbane's largest and most successful inner city developers. Devine can point to over $1 billion in completed residential developments and a clutch of high-profile commercial developments. These include 333 Ann Street, a new 23-level A-grade commercial office tower in the Brisbane commercial district; and ICB Central, a four-level A-grade commercial office space in the suburb of Herston.

Along the way, Devine has won the 2009 Queensland Heritage Façade Restoration Award; the Queensland Professional Excellence in Building Award (Commercial Construction); and the 2009 National Professional Excellence in Building Award.

However, by far the most significant development to dateis Hamilton Harbour, a breathtaking development of five mixed-use towers, an integrated retail promenade with open park and a large underground car park. It is envisaged as a single integrated community, one where people can live, work and play in unparalleled style.

When complete, Hamilton Harbour will be an eclectic mix of residential apartments and retail and commercial space, with many leisure and fine dining opportunities; all clustered in one of the city’s premium locations on the Brisbane River. Apartments at Hamilton Harbour start at $422,000 and the majority are already sold.

“Getting this project off the ground at the outset was one of the biggest challenges,” states George Defteros, commercial contracts manager for Queensland. “Many high-rise developments in Australia either could not obtain finance or are still sitting vacant after several years.”

The development was first proposed just as the global financial crisis impacted. Financial support was lacklustre at the outset, but an award-winning marketing campaign which Devine devised and implemented secured a number of early purchase commitments and convinced backers of the viability of the project.

The development went ahead as a joint venture between Devine Limited and Leighton Properties in a deal which involved 18 tense months of negotiations. Devine Constructions emerged with the head construction contract which in itself was a challenge, as Defteros admits it was the first time the company had tackled a mixed-use development on this scale.

The first two phases of the project have focused on residential usage and two towers are now nearing completion. Construction is within budget and ahead of schedule and the towers will be formally unveiled in December 2011.

This achievement has involved working with no less than 2,842 subcontractors who by the end of July 2011 had spent a total of 963,000 hours at the site. “We work entirely with subcontractors because they are all specialists in their chosen field, whereas our core competency lies in project management, site supervision, and areas such as health and safety and environmental impact,” he explains.

Devine Constructions has had a team of just 24 direct employees on the project and Defteros is keen to pay tribute to their talent and commitment. “We have a very young and dynamic team who are all passionate about working to a common goal and delivering this project to the highest possible standard within budget and on time. It is my hope that they will all be with us for a very long time to come,” he says.

One of the most significant inputs of the team has been the emphasis placed on a proactive approach during the design phase. “Something that sets us apart from other construction management companies is the attention we pay to translating the vision of architects, consultants and structural engineers into building plans that can be executed in the simplest and quickest way. If we can eliminate inefficiencies in design, then we can achieve big savings in time and cost but without compromising on quality,” he explains.

Nothing demonstrates the quality of the construction better than the massive floods that hit Brisbane in January 2011. The project has involved construction of an 854-space basement car park which is four levels deep and lies more than eight metres beneath the Brisbane River. “The closest point to the Brisbane River was just 60 metres away and we were very concerned about flooding which could have potentially involved 72 million litres of water finding their way into the basement,” he says. 

New construction techniques using the latest cased secant piling technology were applied to the construction of the 26,000 square metre basement, which is the largest construction of its type ever undertaken in Australia. “This solution meant speedy construction with minimal site establishment and delivered cost efficiencies over traditional diaphragm solutions. A watertight basement was achieved by socketing into rock to a depth of more than five metres to isolate the basement from the water table. When the floods hit, we were delighted to find it didn’t even leak,” he says.

Now Defteros is gearing up to tackle the third residential tower which will be called Riverside Hamilton and the commercial building, KSD1. This tower will challenge conventional views of what a workspace can be and create a new kind of business environment that will be unmatched in Brisbane.

It will also incorporate the latest advances in energy-saving and sustainable construction techniques which he hopes to see become a hallmark of Devine in the future. “We want to see the adoption of better design principles, the selection of sustainable materials, the re-use of land and a greater focus on emission reductions. These are just some of the ways that we want to manage the construction process in the future to minimise our impact on the environment,” he concludes. www.devine.com.au