The $15 million Aero Apartments project is an impressive 14-storey tower development of 10,100 square metres of gross building area situated in Hunter Street, Newcastle. The development comprises of four levels of two and three-bedroom apartments with modern interiors, ground floor commercial space and four levels of carparking.

BG&E provided structural engineering for this beautifully sculptured high-rise tower.

The design included mine subsidence considerations and coordination with Subsidence Advisory NSW. All vertical elements including perimeter walls, columns and core walls were precast and manufactured offsite to optimise space on a very confined site. Double height column and wall panels were used, with the temporary propping designed by BG&E to avoid slab penetrations. Using this method of precast installation, in conjunction with post-tensioned flat-plate slabs and material property coordination, seven-day pour cycles were achieved in the tower.

Greater Newcastle is growing rapidly and is projected to grow from 575,000 people to around 760,000 by 2056. Residential developments like Aero Apartments will be critical in housing the fast-growing population of the Hunter region in the years to come.