St Mark's, Stanhope Gardens

Northrop provided structural and civil engineering services for Stage 1 of this important project. Completed for the Catholic Education Office, new buildings included administration, classrooms, food technology and open communal areas. Expansive column free areas were achieved using creative structural systems. The project had a construction budget of approx $9M.

Shell Cove Public School

Shell Cove Public School is a completely new development to service this new suburb. This first stage includes five new classroom blocks, hall, covered outdoor learning area, games courts, extensive covered ways, car parking and alterations to the main road. Works also included the adjoining Day Care Centre. Approximate construction budget is $8M.

NSW Seven Schools Project

Northrop was instrumental in working with site constraints to plan seven (7) public school sites for this Public-Private-Partnership Project. The sites included formation of functional playing field areas. Working with varying degrees of steepness on the sites, the objective was to maximise play area while enabling equitable access, adequate drainage and cost-effective earthworks.

A pro-active approach to servicing and grading for the sites was imperative to ensure the strict guidelines for school construction and operation were achieved. The sites were also analysed to interface appropriately with adjoining properties, roads and infrastructure.

Lakes Grammar - An Anglican School Campus

The Lakes Grammar - An Anglican School Campus project comprised development of separate Junior and Senior Campus sites. A Habitat Protection Zone between the two (2), required Northrop to incorporate careful planning throughout the design process and during construction.

Northrop incorporated sustainable development principles such as permeable paving, on-site stormwater detention, rainwater re-use tanks, gross pollutant traps, grassed swale systems and a nutrient control pond creating minimal environmental effects to the protected habitat.

University of Wollongong, Library Extension

Extension of the existing library building on Ground Floor, Level one (1) and Level (2). Northrop provided electrical services for the project.

Life Sciences Building, The University of Newcastle

Winner of the 2001 Sulman Medal for Architecture this $13.5M facility for medical and biology research, is a precast concrete framed building.

The spectacular structure of this building is constructed predominantly of precast concrete, and cantilevers a staggering 21m at the Northern end. The building also has a 6m cantilever to the West.

Design of the structure was driven by the need to allow flexibility to reconfigure the laboratory space in the future, without the need for extensive rework. Tight tolerances in the pre-cast elements led to the use of an innovative connection system to join longitudinal beams.

The need to satisfy earthquake requirements, so much a part of Newcastle's recent past, also led to unique, energy-absorbing fuses becoming part of the design.

It features twin raking columns taking loads of 990,000kgs (990 tonnes). The columns are cast from 70 MPa concrete. Lateral earthquake load is taken by shear walls and the columns and cross braces. Raking precast columns supporting a three storey cantilever. The base of the columns delivers a cantilever length of 21.4m. The building was awarded an Institution of Engineers Excellence Award in 2001 due to its innovative use of precast concrete.