Access Piering were engaged by Icon Construction to provide foundation piles for new hotel development that was inside a heritage building in Chippendale.
The design was for a new structure built from the inside, retaining and utilising the heritage facade. The first challenge was to drill foundation piles working around the existing structure. The second challenge was to have enough firepower on site to meet the very ambitious program.
The building was demolished back to the ‘bare bones’ structure. This proved a difficult challenge for drilling as we had to carefully work our way in and around existing structure that was keeping the building in place.
Fortunately we were able to respond to the challenge of the site conditions and the program. By utilising our 2 low headroom machines on site at the same time, we almost halved the program time. We were also able to work in all available areas. Working with heritage buildings and foundations, no everything goes according to plan, so sometimes we drilled – hit something that had to be removed – and we were able to move onto another area and keep drilling.