Construction period: 18 months Contract type: Early Contractor Involvement – Design & Construct     Project Capabilities

Fast Facts: An open plan retail space and student hub. 20 stories of student accommodation (505 rooms with 689 beds). A rooftop garden that is orientated towards, and designed to overlook, North Terrace.

Summary: 

Urbanest is a multi-storey purpose built student accommodation building. It includes two floors of retail tenancies and is located directly across the road from the University of Adelaide’s main campus.

Urbanest was built with an accelerated program. This was achieved through the extensive pre-planning phase and innovative design & construction techniques including Building Information Modelling (BIM), prefabrication of pod bathrooms and the use of a prefabricated BubbleDeck structural solution. As part of the student experience and amenity, the Urbanest Student Accommodation building provides a range of common student facilities and areas outside of their individual accommodation rooms.

During the tender period Built Environs investigated many items to determine the optimum structural solution. These included column layout (retail and student accommodation), thickness of slab for structural integrity and acoustics, floor to floor heights including structure, façade optimisation and incorporation into structural solution. Along with programming, constructibility, long term asset retention and flexibility and bubble-deck as a structural option.

The development includes:

• Fully equipped gym.
• Study rooms and Computer Hub.
• A large social area on the ground floor with comfortable seating.
• A modern card operated laundry.
• Wireless internet throughout the building.
• Cinema Room and Games Room.
• Secure bike store.