34 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Marra Construction Ltd: Bay Endoscopy � Karen Phelps Timely completion for complex project The centre features two theatres, two procedure rooms, recovery areas and four consultation rooms, with parking for patients and staff. A cutting-edge gastroenterology and endoscopy facility has opened in Tauranga, bringing specialised medical services to the region. The MacMurray Centre, project managed by The Building Intelligence Group (TBIG), which also acted as engineer to contract, and constructed by Marra Construction, was a collaborative effort to deliver the facility on time and under budget. “It’s great to have a facility like this in Tauranga, so people don’t have to travel to Hamilton. They are great clients to work for,” says Stefanie Moke, Marra quantity surveyor. The purpose-built medical centre at 36 Burrows Street is a single-storey timber-and-steelframed structure, with light-weight cladding and roof, supported on a raised concrete slab foundation with block foundation walls and large foundation beams. It features two theatres, two procedure rooms, recovery areas and four consultation rooms, with parking for patients and staff. Its design reflects Tauranga’s coastal environment, resulting in a warm and inviting atmosphere as well as enhancing staff efficiency and patient experience. The project involved complex engineering and construction, and numerous challenges were overcome to deliver it, including the fact the facility was built on an overland flow path in a flood zone, requiring innovative solutions. The foundation design was particularly innovative, utilising 600mm-thick polystyrene pods under the floor to keep the foundations light, along with pumice backfill suited to the ground conditions. The project team consisted of The Building Intelligence Group, Serve NZ, Marra Construction, Wingate Architects, Lysaght Consultants, Lautrec Consulting Engineers and Crowther & Company. Project director at The Building Intelligence Group, Graeme Cocks says the “hardest part was getting out of the ground”. “The design of foundation was complex and necessitated a collaborative approach,” he says. Marra site manager Paul Lipinski, says theer “was quite a bit of liaison with council and tweaks to the building required. The building is just over a metre off the ground.” “We were also building on a cut down to the estuary and we had to go 1.4 metres down, taking us into the estuary settlement.” Paul says the construction team managed to avoid major complications through careful planning. “We were working just on top of the water table, so as long as we were organised we were able to get away with no de-watering. Geotech and engineers supervised what we were doing as per the drawings,” says Paul. Additional complexities included boundary fences with 300mm gaps underneath to accommodate the flow path, drainage laid in the water table, and retaining walls positioned near the main council sewer line. The building itself was split into three fire zones and incorporated numerous noise-rated walls for consulting rooms. “We had two layers of Gib full height, and also a large amount of services due to the type of building, so that added challenges and required hundreds of penetrations through firewalls,” says Paul. For Marra Construction, Paul and Stefanie says the successful delivery of this complex project further demonstrates its capabilities in the medical construction sector, building on previous experience with projects such as a Grace Hospital operating theatre extension and The Doctors, both in Tauranga. The company is currently working on another medical facility, the Granada Street medical centre. Powering Your Project Potential Innovative Commercial Electrical Engineering Solutions High-Voltage Experts | Certified Green Star standards We combine expertise and innovation to deliver solutions for your most complex projects. Talk to the DGE team 09 526 3992. www.dge.nz SEE PROJECT
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