Tucker St Studio Apartments is a six-storey affordable housing development in Adelaide’s CBD, delivered by SA Housing Trust and constructed by Mossop Construction + Interiors. The development provides 50 studio apartments for women at risk of homelessness, including five accessible apartments, private balconies, shared spaces, a landscaped courtyard, communal garden, meeting rooms, energy efficient appliances and bicycle parking. Onsite support services from YWCA Australia help residents establish stable tenancies and connect with health and community services.
Robert Bird Group was engaged by Mossop Construction + Interiors after the tender stage to review the structural design, identify efficiencies and complete the detailed structural and civil design. Building on local knowledge of Adelaide ground conditions, Robert Bird Group replaced the proposed piled foundation with pad footings, optimised the superstructure and supported a more efficient construction pathway through post tensioned floors and precast concrete elements.
Challenge
The key challenge was to refine the tender design into a more cost effective and material efficient scheme without compromising the architectural brief. The original design included piled foundations and transfer elements. Robert Bird Group was tasked with testing these assumptions, resolving the foundation strategy and completing the detailed design in coordination with the builder and project team.
Tucker St Studio Apartments also needed to provide safe, secure homes, shared support spaces and controlled access. The surrounding context, including adjacent community services and a tightly managed frontage, required the structure and site works to support clear sightlines and safe movement around entries.
Engineering Solutions
Robert Bird Group provided structural and civil engineering services for detailed design, incorporating changes identified through the value management phase. The scope included lateral assessment for wind and earthquake, core wall design, foundation and slab layout, assessment and detailing of precast panels, post tensioned slab design for Levels 1 to 5, structural specifications, civil drawings, pavement details and civil specifications.
Digital coordination was also central to the delivery approach. Drawing on its South Australian Government BIM Tier 4 prequalification, Robert Bird Group documented the project in Revit and worked within a federated model environment, supporting model sharing, services coordination and clash detection across the project team.
The key structural move was the shift from piles to pad footings, informed by Robert Bird Group’s local experience on nearby Adelaide projects and the known ground conditions. This avoided the need for piling and helped reduce cost, programme risk and construction complexity. The team also rationalised transfer beams and optimised the floor system, using post tensioned slabs to create a leaner structure.
The structural design supported the project’s Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) approach, helping translate Woods Bagot’s vision for an efficient and adaptable building into a buildable engineering solution. Robert Bird Group assessed and detailed the precast concrete core and perimeter wall panels, which were manufactured offsite and craned into position, with two storey panels used where lifting limits allowed. This reduced the number of lifts, lowered onsite formwork demand and supported a streamlined construction sequence. Balconies were integrated into the post tensioned floor system, while exposed precast detailing and false joints helped align structural efficiency with the architectural intent for a compact, robust and low maintenance building.
The civil engineering work responded to limited stormwater infrastructure on Tucker Street. Robert Bird Group helped update the stormwater approach, redirecting runoff through a gravity fed system toward Hart Street and local drainage infrastructure. Water quality devices were incorporated to help treat runoff from garden and public areas, while the removal of pump pits helped simplify operation and maintenance.
Project outcome and impact
By simplifying the foundation strategy and reducing structural complexity, Robert Bird Group’s approach helped Mossop manage programme and cost risk while preserving the project’s design intent. The engineering response reduced unnecessary material demand through a leaner structural system, pad footings, post tensioned floors and precast concrete elements.
Tucker St Studio Apartments was delivered under the South Australian Government’s plans for A Better Housing Future. The development shows how local technical knowledge can support social infrastructure with a clear community purpose. The outcome is safe, well-connected housing for women at risk of homelessness, while demonstrating the value of early contractor collaboration, practical engineering judgement and coordinated digital delivery on compact urban sites.
Renders supplied by Woods Bagot