Brisbane’s hydraulic engineering team worked along-side Hutchinson Builders and Planet Plumbing Group to deliver the $50 million Energex Northern Metropolitan Office Development (more commonly known as Circa One) in Nundah, Queensland.

The team managed the design of the hydraulic services including fire hydrant and fire hose reel services. Particular emphasis was placed on achieving the client’s 5 Star Green Star design target rating. The building consists of 6 levels of commercial office space, 2 levels of retail space and 2 basement car park levels with a total net floor area of 24,461m2.

The team implemented a range of innovative engineering techniques to meet the construction staging whilst also achieving the Green Star target, including:

• The stormwater collection design comprised of individual spoon drain systems with pump pits, eliminating the need of standard piped inground stormwater drainage systems. This approach enabled the construction to be staged allowing the construction to be accelerated in the other stages.
• Design of applied energy efficient pumps and a gas fired hot water plant targeted at minimising greenhouse emissions.
• Designing for roof water collection tanks for the storage of rainwater to be reused for irrigation and water flushing, thus reducing the overall water usage for the building and its reliance on public supply.