Manteena has won the 2020 MBA ACT Excellence Award in the category: Commercial Building $5million to $20million, for its quality workmanship in building the Lao Embassy in O’Malley.
Manteena partnered with stakeholders to work together, collaboratively and honestly, through an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) phase to support the production of the Pre-Tender Estimate (PTE) and ultimately provide a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Design & Construct (D&C) Lump Sum Price.
The site consists of approx. 8,200m² of hillside land, overlooking the Woden Town Centre in Canberra upon which the brief called for an embassy complex containing a chancery, ambassador’s residence, staff quarters and a function hall. The masterplan developed responses to a multitude of factors including: a hierarchy of building visibility to the street, security zoning, minimising cut to to fill, maximising solar aspect and view opportunities.
Ideas of cultural embedment were included at design principle level such as: the pavilion style layout, the simple forms and materials, layering of roofs, formalized courtyards to in-between space, and the rice paddy like terracing of the ground plane. The natural contours and vegetation bleeds in from the edges blurring the line of where informal meets formal.
Highlights of the project include the high pitched roof, gold naga (roof status/sculpture at gable ends) and high level timber cladding, which were all chosen to represent traditional Lao architecture. Interesting upon handover to the client, all buildings required one
person to sleep alone on a single solitary bed for three nights in order to bless the buildings with good spirits.
person to sleep alone on a single solitary bed for three nights in order to bless the buildings with good spirits.
Congratulations to construction team of: Rod, Jack, Ed, Simon, Pierse, Remo, Boz and Khyll.
