SINGLE LEAP (Living Environment and Accommodation Precinct) is a Defence project to bring living-in accommodation for single members of the Australian Defence Force, into line with community standards. Phase 2 involved over 300 individual buildings comprising a total of 3500 units of accommodation across 17 sites, in all states of Australia except Tasmania.

Significant and interesting aspects of the project and Robert Bird Group’s role include the following:

The structural design solution features three-storey high precast concrete wall panels that act as the inter-tenancy walls for the units, whilst also eliminating the need for any vertical formwork on the project. Various footing systems were designed to suit the varying ground conditions, including strip footings, pad footings, bored piers and steel screw piles.

An innovative precast concrete portal frame in the laundry bays provides lateral support to the buildings and eliminates the need to provide any bracing or shear walls. The structural slab design is also varied between reinforced concrete and precast concrete on each site to suit local market and subcontractor preferences.

Robert Bird Group also developed a construction methodology for the buildings that included installing the steel roof ahead of the Level 1 and 2 slabs, which eliminates the need to provide any temporary propping of precast walls during slab construction. This saves significant construction time and cost, and increases quality by allowing the slabs to be poured in a weather-proof environment.