Karingal Green Continuing Care
Property
- Specific structural solutions to suit different areas of the building – due to the large scale of the project a number of different construction techniques were employed according to the most appropriate solution for each zone. Timber trusses and steelwork framing were used for the roof structure to suit the different roof forms; Deltacore planks, lightweight steel framing, timber framing and traditional reinforced concrete were used for framing different zones of the suspended floor.
- Glulam feature framing – the social hub was designed with Architectural feature timber elements that are expressed and used as part of the façade system.
- Large cantilevered balcony using Deltacore planks – Due to long column-free spans over the hydrotherapy pool, Deltacore planks were used as the suspended slab construction method. These also enabled long cantilevers to be achieved, and the design of these needed to take the pre-camber imparted into the planks from the prestressing process into account.
- Suspended steelwork framing with high level of services coordination. The long column-free span of the suspended floor in the social hub was designed with long curved custom-made steel sections. Due to the large amount of services required to reticulate through this zone, 3D models were overlaid and penetrations designed through the beams to cater for the services.
The Karingal Green Residential Age Care Facility is a new 3-storey, 160 bed complex with a split level basement car park, located in High Wycombe, approximately 15km east of Perth CBD.
The facility will cater for both high-dependency residents and provide lower care alternative accommodation. It incorporates a variety of functional spaces including a hydrotherapy pool, social hub, auditorium, a roof terrace and a range of dining areas.
Hall & Prior Health & Aged Care Group appointed Pritchard Francis to provide the civil and structural engineering consultancy services for the project.
A wide range of structural systems have been utilised to provide the most appropriate structure to suit the layout and aesthetic requirements of different areas. These include a large column-free steel framed floor system in the social hub, with exposed timber glulam beams achieving a striking architectural outcome. Pritchard Francis worked closely with the consultant team to co-ordinate the services throughout, utilising the clash detection capabilities of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) software used by the design team.