Manteena was engaged by Comcare as the Head Contractor to Fitout Levels 3, 4 & 5 of Comcare’s Head Office in Canberra in readiness for its relocation of Comcare from an expiring tenancy to the new premises.

To accommodate the tenancy by Comcare, aspects of the project included:

• Alterations, upgrades and additions to the existing building services including electrical, hydraulic, mechanical, fire, security and audio visual services;
• New partitions and glazed walls to separate the levels into a range of offices, open plan work areas, meeting rooms, storage areas and wet areas;
• Alterations to ceilings and floors including carpet, vinyl and timber flooring;
• Construction of two staircases to link the various levels of the tenancy;
• Joinery storage and bench units, whitegoods and audio visual equipment throughout the tenancy;
• The delivery of various workstations and furniture; and
• Extensive plants throughout.

Demolition began in May with an ambitious program for the works to be completed in 12 weeks.

Extensive mechanical, electrical, hydraulic systems were re-configured as part of the fitout, with a new high level AV system integrated on each level.

48 different partitions types required high levels of coordination to ensure the steel stud frames and partitions were correctly installed across the three levels. Each partition requiring set out at different angles, some curved walls or different uses of materials.

Finally, the joinery was installed and associated services connections completed. The floor finishes and rectification of other base building finishes such as the repainting of external walls and commissioning of services closed out the job. The primary challenge during this project was site access. The goods lift was the only access to site for both materials and personnel—at times over 100 workers on site. Lift size restrictions also required new steel works for the job to be cut to fit into the lift and re-welded once delivered onto the correct floor.

A large section of the post tensioned slab was removed on two of the floors to permit the installation of a new staircase to connect the client’s three levels of office space. All of the resultant waste material had to be removed via the existing goods lift requires much coordination with the building owner to avoid both lift damage and the inconvenience of the existing tenants.

Manteena, AMC and Comcare are immensely proud of this fitout. Comcare staff have responded positively to their new working environment with the introduction of open plan areas featuring sit to stand workstations being particularly popular. This project has successfully addressed Comcare’s key principles of ergonomics, sustainability, flexibility and staff interaction.