Hutchinson Builders pockets Project of the Year award
The project demonstrated the capability of the Hutchinson Builders’ Toowoomba team to complete highly complex construction jobs to exceptionally high standards
Redeveloping St Vincent’s Hospital was a highly complex design and construct project involving new building areas, demolition, asbestos removal, and refurbishing and upgrading of essential hospital services, whilst working in a live hospital environment.
Hutchinson Builders planned extensive services relocation and outages weeks in advance, to minimise any disruption to the hospital. Once these services were relocated, the redevelopment could commence.
This required the tunnelling of a 30T excavator under the operational maternity ward to the inner courtyard, demolition of suspended decks and under-croft areas to pave the way for the new operating theatres, asbestos removal, and rectification of fire penetrations.
The works were carried out over a 5000sq m building footprint, and over five levels of the hospital.
The basement carpark made way for the new commercial hospital kitchen, a new chapel was added to the building, along with executive office suites, recovery and admittance suites, staff facilities, store rooms, two brand new lifts, and much more.
The highlight of the project was the operating theatres, one of which includes medical imaging equipment which is the first of its kind to be installed in the southern hemisphere. Hospital staff were operating in the theatres within 48 hours after practical completion.