Practical completion of the GPO Exchange was achieved in October last year.
RCP was engaged by Charter Hall to perform project management, superintendent and specialist programming services for the landmark $250m development, located in Adelaide’s GPO and Victoria Square precinct.
RCP’s leadership proved invaluable in the successful delivery of the project, which is the largest to date undertaken by Charter Hall in South Australia. The project was completed on time, under budget and within Charter Hall’s key requirements.
The project consisted of the construction of a new A Grade 22 storey office tower, retail outlet and a laneway precinct. Additionally, the iconic Telephone Exchange was refurbished as boutique office space.
RCP oversaw the consultant procurement, design, contractor tender and award, full tenant integration and project construction phases of this major South Australian development, delivered under an AS 4300 1995 D&C contract, which required significant amendment to cater for the development’s unique heritage and technology requirements.
Designed by Hassell (lead architect) and Fitzpatrick+Partners, and constructed by Built, RCP ensured all project team members goals were aligned and that the team maintained a collaborative focus on best for project outcomes.
An important aspect of the GPO Exchange development was the refurbishment of the 150 year old Telephone Exchange building. The project team worked closely with heritage restoration subcontractors to successfully navigate the changes in use of the heritage building, carefully balancing the conflicting requirements of maintaining the heritage character of the site whilst creating a high-end technology-driven office building.
In order to meet cutting-edge design trends, the project team ensured the GPO Exchange’s design was developed in a manner that it could continuously evolve throughout construction. This resulted in the complete evolution of the lobby’s functional design throughout the course of the project.
Additionally, RCP successfully integrated an aspirational technology masterplan into the builder’s deliverables, resulting in the final project outcome incorporating several state-of-the-art technologies that hadn’t been used before in South Australia and are now being rolled out nationally across Charter Hall’s assets.
The GPO Exchange is occupied by The Attorney General’s Department (AGD) and BHP, two high profile tenants. RCP meticulously handled adjustments to leasing requirements throughout the course of the development to suit the tenants and Charter Hall’s varying tenancy integration requirements. This included the late addition of BHP’s tenancy, which required a significant N+1 essential and non-essential services redundancy upgrade to the project brief baseline.
The GPO Exchange has achieved world leading sustainability credentials including a 6 Star Green Star Design & As-Built v1 .1 – Base Build; 6 Star Green Star Interiors v1 .2 (AGD fit-out); WELL Building Standards silver rating; 5 Star NABERS Energy, 4 Star NABERS Water and 5 Star NABERS Indoor Environment ratings. Additionally, an application will be lodged for a 6 Star NABERS Waste rating with a target for the GPO Exchange to be the first 6 star NABERS Waste building in South Australia.
“The outstanding success of the GPO Exchange is a prime example of the high quality outcomes that Charter Hall and RCP deliver when working together.” Tom Dalrymple, RCP Project Leader.