Designing better and more efficient buildings
The Q1 Tower in Surfers Paradise on Australia's Gold Coast
Readymix Holdings in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, is carrying out a major research and development project to help construct the world's tallest residential building, known as "Q1". Consisting of 82 storeys, and taking up an entire city block, the Q1 building will be completed in 2005.
As well as supplying large volumes of high strength concrete, Readymix Holdings has had input at the pre-construction stages of the project with the designers and the various construction companies. Readymix Holdings is working with engineers and universities to predict and measure the natural shortening of concrete - an important research area given the size and location of the building on the east coast of Australia.
Research and development is about predicting more accurately the long-term shortening behaviour of the very tall concrete columns and core.
"This is critical for our customers, as it affects building construction in terms of the positioning of slabs, which is very important in such tall buildings as the Q1 Tower," said Dr. Daksh Baweja, national business development manager for Readymix Holdings.
The research team comprises representatives from Readymix Holdings, Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus), the University of Melbourne and the University of NSW. In addition, Whaley Consulting Engineers and Sunland, the developer, are contributing design and construction expertise. Readymix Holdings is developing better performing concrete as a result of this research, which will lead to improved design models, design predictions and functional efficiency in buildings.
In addition to providing expertise, Griffith University has a major civil engineering laboratory in the Gold Coast area, in close vicinity to the Q1 Tower project. A PhD student, Sadudee Boonlualoah, is being sponsored by Readymix Holdings to work on this research project. Griffith University will also provide undergraduate students to assist in installing monitoring systems to measure the building for deformation, which is a very labour intensive task.
