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606 St Kilda Road was an existing office building comprising basement and ground floor
parking, plus 10 levels of office building. At the time of purchase the building had been
stripped of all internal fit-out, services and partial demolition works had been undertaken in
preparation for a residential conversion, before the project was abandoned by the previous
owners. Halim Group acquired the property with the intention of carrying out a substantial
refurbishment and upgrade to reinstate the previous office use.
The redevelopment required substantial works to new services throughout including
lifts, mechanical, electrical, fire and hydraulic, extending the floor plates to capture pre-existing
sunshades, a new curtain wall façade, relocation of an existing stair well from the
west end of the building to a central core and new finishes throughout.
Due to the extensive works to the existing structure and the significant increase in lettable
area, the refurbishment works were of a very complex nature and a number of innovative
architectural, structural and services solutions were required in order to overcome some
inherent building constraints.
The client quickly identified that there was significant risk
in the construction works and early cost estimates looked
like the project would be in jeopardy. From project inception,
Walton was engaged as a 'construction consultant' to assist
the design team, and ensure that every opportunity to reduce
costs, and minimise risks was identified and capitalised on, or
dealt with during the design process.
The project was exceedingly complex and, as is often the case
with older buildings, many issues arose during construction
that could not have been identified prior, and could have been
disastrous to the project outcome, however our team delivered
the project within the program constraints and under budget.
The initial project budget was $14.5M. During the design
process the budget was continuously monitored and the budget
was reduced to a 'target' of $12.1M. The project feasibility was
based on an assumed end value of $29M but was ultimately
sold for approximately $30.5M. This increase in value was
achieved through strong leasing performance on completion,
and the very high standard of quality, finish and architectural
design achieved.
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