In recent years, Mainbrace Constructions has completed, on average, four ‘Mini Gun’ centres each year. As its portfolio in this space grows, so does the pool of data it collects and draws on to inform projects and clients. Rob Doust shares some of the company’s recent projects…
At Mainbrace, we love to build neighbourhood shopping centres. These centres play a pivotal role in local communities, fulfilling multiple roles as places to serve everyday convenience needs as well as hubs in which to relax, socialise and be entertained.
During the past three decades, our track record in delivering new-build neighbourhood shopping centres encompasses more than 40 projects. In this time, we’ve developed strong relationships with owners and major tenants.
We’ve also accumulated a plethora of data that we leverage in new and refurbishment projects. This data can be applied throughout the development cycle, from concept to design to construction to operation.
For instance, in the tendering process, data enables us to do more than just come up with a price. We can go beyond and measure a vast array of building and design elements, allowing us to present non-financial metrics to clients that relate to various aspects of design, layout and spatial efficiency, unlocking richer, data-informed opportunities for the design team.
And with costs the way they are right now, efficiency can be the key to a feasibility stacking up. The headwinds facing the construction sector are well known and, for many projects, feasibility is constrained. Data applied in an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) context can inform the most cost-efficient path to enable projects which would otherwise be stalled to proceed.
Ultimately, the data we collect is not strictly for our benefit. Working with stakeholders and sharing our data is what project success depends upon. We’re creating assets for local communities, so collaboration is key. Data enables us to create a shared value by feeding both our clients and their designers the data they need to improve the building that they will own and operate.
And we love delivering those buildings. Here are some we’re proud to work on.
The Gables
Value management is always an early focus for Mainbrace. We draw on data, including our cost modelling database, to identify opportunities to enhance design efficiency, improve buildability and maintain critical project milestones. It’s an approach we apply to all neighbourhood centre projects, including ECI projects.
Stockland has engaged Mainbrace to construct a new shopping hub in the heart of its master-planned community, The Gables, located in the Hills district in Sydney’s thriving northwest corridor. Stockland Gables will be anchored by a full-line 3,800m2 Woolworths supermarket and include a childcare centre operated by Nido Early School, a medical centre and pharmacy, a gym, as well as several specialty shops, food and dining options.
Harpley Town Centre
The Gables follows our work on another masterplanned community, Harpley, which is being created in a key growth corridor about 35km south-west of Melbourne CBD. Servicing the residents of the new homes is Harpley Town Centre, a Coles-anchored neighbourhood centre.
Mainbrace was awarded the Design and Construct tender to deliver the new neighbourhood centre at Harpley in late 2022. Detailed design work commenced immediately. At the time, we were already on site in the community, undertaking preliminary works on parts of the development site that will eventually accommodate a new medical centre and service station.
We started on site in early 2023 and worked with project manager Artro Management through the 48-week program, reaching completion in May 2024. The Town Centre includes a new Coles supermarket of approximately 4,500m2, as well as a Dan Murphy’s outlet, mixed-use building, gym, office, mini-major, and 16 specialty and food and beverage tenancies.
Additionally, there’s a basement carpark and substantial on-grade carpark to enable easy access for Harpley residents as well as visitors from further afield, ensuring the Town Centre fulfils its important role in the growing community.
Emerald Hills Shopping Village
In New South Wales, Mainbrace has passed the halfway mark on the expansion of Emerald Hills Shopping Village, which will vastly enhance the neighbourhood centre offer for the local community.
We completed the original Emerald Hills Shopping Village in 2018, so we were familiar with the client, the tenants and the centre itself. This knowledge, and data has informed our approach to the expansion, which includes a new large format retail building of 4,843m2, provision for a future Woolworths supermarket and the base-build for an ALDI supermarket, as well as four additional food and beverage retailers, 12 new specialty retail tenancies and on-grade carpark.
Pallara Shopping Village
At Pallara, in the outer south of Brisbane, our QLD Construction team is busy delivering the new Pallara Shopping Village. This 8,841m2 neighbourhood centre is set to become a new focal point for the community, anchored by a Coles supermarket and offering 22 stores covering approximately 2,600m2 of speciality retail space. It’s on track for completion in the first half of 2025 for the client, Bluepoint Group.
The project was secured through an ECI agreement, which enabled Mainbrace’s pre-construction team to once again crunch the relevant data to save time and costs for the client and reduce risks from the earliest design phase.
Through a thorough design review backed up by data analysis, we were able to identify some inefficiencies in the DA-approved layouts that were addressed as part of the ECI design development process. This resulted in a net gain of approximately 65m2 of additional GLAR and 70m2 of additional outdoor dining area for the benefit of the client. The layout of the customer carpark was also able to be rationalised, resulting in a net gain of eight additional car spaces.
This article by Rob Doust is featured in the latest issue of SCN magazine. Premium members can view the digital magazine here.
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