Edge Apartments
Residential apartments
Franklin, ACT

Description of services
Principal structural consultants engaged to develop numerous structural options, including post tensioned design, precast, and conventional flooring systems to a complicated structure.

Client
Community Housing Canberra

Size and description of project
This development was situated on a large size block, approximately 15 000m2. It consisted of three by three-storey and five by two-storey apartment blocks, with a 140-spot car park in the basement at the centre of the site.

Value
Approximately $20 million

Unique features/specific challenges
The architectural layout of the building relative to the basement meant the roof to the basement had to be designed as a heavily loaded slab so any sized vehicle—fully loaded fire trucks to removal vehicles—could drive it any time.

A water-tight podium was also required because no membrane was proposed by the builder. This led to a post-tension design for the podium level, to provide an economic solution to high loading structures with large spans (approximate 10m).

Cross-discipline civil engineering expertise was brought in to assist with simplification of the podium design and associated construction.

Typical upper levels were simple reinforced formed slabs, using mesh where possible to increase construction speed to a high degree.