West Australian Newspapers - Project Colour ($170m)
The West Australian Printing Expansion project was the largest capital works program undertaken in the company's 175 years of operation. This $170m capital commitment involved construction and commissioning of a new heat set press and colour press line.
Acting as lead consultant, Pritchard Francis were involved in master planning, coordination with press suppliers in Germany, visits to a similar facility overseas, building design, documentation and contract administration.
The building consisted of a steel skeleton support structure clad with tilt-up concrete panels. Internally, 1m thick suspended concrete tables supported 3,000 tonnes of press equipment. Both table and foundation were poured with shrinkage reducing additives and low heat of hydration concrete to ensure the 120m long structures performed adequately. Settlements, natural frequencies and set out dimensions were all designed and constructed to extremely tight tolerances.
Pritchard Francis received a National Certificate of Excellence in Building Projects, from the Concrete Institute of Australia, recognising projects that have made a significant contribution to the development of concrete technology.
