Baptist College

Mandurah Baptist College Stage 5 comprises primary school classrooms, an ablutions block, staff offices and meeting rooms. A 1200-seat auditorium was also constructed, with a canteen, changing rooms, ablutions and storage facilities.
The project involved bulk earthworks, limestone stripping, in situ footings, floor slabs and suspended tiered seating and slabs. The materials used were face and plastered brickwork, tilt panels, structural steel, timber trusses, custom orb and trim deck roof cladding and wall sheeting. For the auditorium, acoustic, fire-check tile ceilings, gyprock and wall linings were used, as well as perforated MDF wall claddings and delta core planks with topping. We applied face brickwork to the external classrooms and a paint finish to the external wall panels. We used a custom orb wall cladding finish and fitted vinyl, carpet and tiling throughout, with a sprung timber floor for the stage area. Face brickwork was applied to the internal walls and perforated MDF cladding to the auditorium’s acoustic tile ceilings and
intricate gyprock bulkheads. We completed the external landscaping and paving to complete the project.
The project was undertaken while the school was fully operational. Our project team liaised with the school to ensure a safe environment for the school at all times. We had limited access to undertake the works due to the site constraints. The tilt panels were very large (up to 40 tonnes) requiring reinforcement, consisting of large prefab cages, which had to be craned into position. Up to 200 ferrules and 25 cast-in plates were required.
The auditorium’s acoustic ceiling and bulkhead were intricately designed, as was the proscenium arch over the stage. Construction of the precast delta core planks with in situ topping was complex, since it was installed through the roof structure and the topping could only be installed at the end of the project with line pumps employed to place the concrete. The air conditioning system was considerable, with a chiller package unit installed in a detached compound, which in turn supplied the
package units to the plantroom. Acoustic hard ducting was then distributed throughout the auditorium.
Despite the complexity of this project, it was nonetheless completed within the 55-week time frame.