Poets’ Corner retail development, stage 2

We returned to build the second stage of Poets’ Corner six months after completing the first stage of the retail development, this time on a design and build basis.

The two buildings in the second stage are a 288m² Texas Chicken restaurant and a separate 392m² building with three retail tenancies. Both are single-storey, steel portal and precast panel structures with a mixture of Espan metal cladding, recycled bricks and timber weatherboards. High performance insulated roof panels were used over the restaurant, with a more traditional Colorsteel commercial roof on the retail complex.

An already compressed construction programme was made even more challenging when an additional 2,500m² of unsuitable material was discovered and had to be removed from the site. There was also an interior fitout programme integrated into the base build programme that was critical to the opening date of the restaurant. The pressure was on our site team to come up with innovative ways to pull time back.

We achieved this by devising a staged handover of the development, providing early access for the fitout to commence, and prioritising the schedule of works with a renewed focus on getting the restaurant complete and compliant ready for their grand opening. We worked collaboratively with our subcontractors and pulled out all the stops to deliver the project right in the nick of time.

Our client has invested heavily both in the area and in using quality materials to create attractive, functional buildings. We aligned our design and construction strategy to their philosophy of setting a benchmark for quality developments in the up-and-coming commercial hub.