The Green Square Library and Plaza sets a premium standard for integrated public buildings, with the project forming a vital part of the City of Sydney’s vision for the $13 billion Green Square urban renewal precinct.

This innovative community and cultural development comprises a civic plaza of some 8,100 square metres, which sits atop a mostly underground library of 2,500 square metres.

BG&E participated in John Holland’s tender team throughout the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) process that led to their awarding of the construction contract. Our role was to identify value engineering opportunities to enable the construction programme to be achieved and to evaluate construction methods that could enable the high quality finish in exposed concrete elements to be achieved.

Our experts provided support in structural design and in materials, to ensure that the specified finish objectives were achieved. During construction, BG&E also assisted in optimising the sequencing of concrete pours such that integral, monolithic joints in the tower structure could be achieved to the satisfaction of the architect, Stewart Hollenstein.

The method developed was highly successful: through a combination of diligent concrete mix review and remote monitoring of concrete movement through the placement of strain gauges, specified crack control requirements and visual amenity criteria were achieved, despite the complex geometry of the structural elements.