Architecture

The prominent location of the Al Bidda Tower, in the Dafna area of Qatar, demanded a form that would be a unique departure from the conventional design of an urban high-rise tower.

To this end, the facade of the tower is a continually twisting face that cannot be described as planar. This is achieved by having the rotor-shaped plan form of the tower undergo a rotation at every level. Additionally, the tower is larger in floor area on the top floors than at its base, making it a commercially profitable proposition.

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The Al Raha Beach development is a beachfront project being built along the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway, opposite Al Raha Gardens.

The USD$15 billion development sits on reclaimed land at Al Raha Beach, occupying an area of 6.8 million square metres, with a total built-up area of 12 million square metres. Developed by ALDAR, Al Raha Beach will be a new city district that will serve as the new gateway to Abu Dhabi City and accommodate 120,000 residents in an arrangement of high-rise towers and low-rise developments. It is being built in 11 residential and commercial precincts, each with its own distinct personality and appeal.

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Al Raha Gardens is a mixed-use residential, commercial, leisure and retail development in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The vision for the development is that of a medium-sized village community with village-scale streets that afford residents the opportunity to socialise; fostering a sense of community, ownership and pride in their surroundings.

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GHD has been engaged by Ahmed Hassan Bilal Trading and Contracting Company to re-design and oversee the construction of a 20-storey residential tower on the Pearl Island development in Qatar.

The tower development consists of chalets; studios; one, two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses; and facilities including two swimming pools, and separate male and female gymnasiums.

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The Australian Capital Territory Electricity and Water Corporation (ACTEW) and ActewAGL are using alliance contracting to deliver four large-scale water supply projects to secure water supply for the people of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

ACTEW Corporation and ActewAGL have partnered with GHD, Abigroup and John Holland Group to form the Bulk Water Alliance and deliver these projects over the next three years

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GHD collaborated with Dutch architects KCAP to provide master planning services for the Gemdale Shenyang Chang Qing 'Trinity' project in Shenyang, northern China. The project site covers
883,100sq m, including 210,000sq m of residential, commercial and community programs.

Following the master planning phase, GHD provided architectural design services.

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Qatar Airways crew have a new ‘home away from home’ in Doha that achieves high quality living in a relaxing atmosphere.

GHD was engaged to design the complex, which contains 543 apartments in four buildings that are arranged in a traditional form of an Arabic Mafruka. The facility, which has a modern contemporary theme, is designed to project the dynamic and progressive branding attributes commonly associated with Qatar Airways.

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GHD has prepared the detailed master plan for the Waterfront City in Vietnam, which is billed as the central township of the new Long Hung City development in Dong Nai.

When completed, Waterfront City is expected to accommodate approximately 35,000 people. The development is being undertaken by a consortia led by international urban developer, Keppel Land. The project comprised integrated, comprehensive and sustainable development that incorporates low to high-rise apartments, landed homes, marina, mixed use and commercial districts complimented with civic, educational, health and recreational facilities.

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GHD is providing a range of services for a 400-bed tertiary care teaching hospital development in Dubai. Known as University Hospital, the project boasts a construction budget of AED2.1 billion (AU$700 million). University Hospital contributes to Dubai’s vision to become a global centre of excellence for healthcare delivery.

Located within a low-rise, Mediterranean-themed, master planned healthcare development, this 18-storey building has a contemporary double skin facade and includes a three-level basement with parking for 2500 cars. Medical care will be provided in a four-level podium block with bed wards located in the tower above. Administrative offices will be housed in a separate eight-storey building to the south, linked to the medical block via a glazed walkway.

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Dubai is setting the pace in planning a community that embraces high sustainability values.

In keeping with the Ruler of Dubai’s directive to develop only ‘green’ buildings, EnPark will be one of Dubai’s first master planned communities to embody sustainability principles. These principles cover land use, urban design, buildings and open spaces.

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The Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) in Victoria engaged GHD to prepare architectural concepts for the redevelopment of the Fisherman’s Beach precinct.

The precinct is a popular beach location at Torquay for walking and swimming, and is a launching site for commercial and recreational boats. The new building will be a high-profile development delivering a quality, cost-effective and sustainable outcome that showcases what can be achieved in coastal development.

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The Frances Bay Zone Substation was constructed to meet increasing electricity demand in Darwin’s CBD and to increase security of power supply to the area – now and into the future.

GHD provided the specialist skills and knowledge needed for the multi-disciplinary engineering and architectural design, project management and contract administration of construction of the project.

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As Australia's first five star, mixed-use, high technology business park, Gore Hill brings a world-class work environment to Sydney. GHD is the architect and designer of this exciting new project.

Showcasing iconic architecture, exceptional quality and environmental sustainability, Lindsay Bennelong Developments is creating a business park that sets the benchmark by which others will be judged.

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GHD is the principal consultant for the design of this high profile five-star tourist resort. The architecture and services are designed in modern Qatari style and provide a solution to the harsh desert environment.

The Grand Hyatt development, commissioned by the Tourism Investment Company, is a luxurious resort complex comprising a 250-suite hotel and fully serviced five-star holiday villas. Located along the Arabian Gulf, the innovative cluster layout concept maximises the view of the beach from each villa, while retaining privacy. The design engenders the site’s characteristics, that of the collusion of water and the desert.                                     

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Balancing heritage preservation heritage and modernisation is a key feature of the project to design an upgrade for Auckland’s historic Greys Ave Apartments. GHD was awarded the design contract.

Specific measures included in GHD’s design:

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This project is a large residential development in Changsha and is being developed by Hong Kong Henderson Land Development Company Ltd. The development has a land area of 241,038sq m and a total building area of 442,000sq m. GHD has undertaken the architectural design in phase one of the project working on a building area of 240,000sq m.

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Interface Australia is Australia’s largest manufacturer of carpet tiles for residential, commercial and industrial use. The company engaged GHD to assist with a major upgrade of its manufacturing facility. 

It was important to the client that any upgrade was arranged so as to minimise disruption to ongoing plant operations.

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Early in the morning on 30 September 2008, the kitchen of Mesa Public Schools’ Washington Elementary School caught fire. The kitchen was a total loss and school was in session.  Mesa Public Schools immediately launched architectural and construction efforts to clean up the fire damage.

KWS Construction and GHD were contracted to provide construction services and architectural coordination for new construction and equipment, in collaboration with the district insurer Arizona School Risk Retention Trust, Inc.

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GHD undertook the design, documentation and construction phase management for the covered arena at Dalby Showgrounds, Queensland. The 90m by 60m clear span structure provides a covered venue for equestrian and other multi-disciplinary events.

The structure covers a 60m by 40m equestrian area, grandstand seating and a 55m by 10m ancillary building that contains amenities, function and bar areas, and a viewing deck.

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Tangshan New town, covering 51.6sq km, is recognised as a tourism centre offering hot springs. The Australia Urban System consortium was commissioned by Nanjing Jiangning District government to provide overall urban planning for an area of 18.14sq km.

GHD, as the lead design firm in the consortium, played a key role in the urban planning.

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The new AUD $9 million high-speed facillity, located in the Hobart Technopark, was designed by GHD, which provided the architectural detailing, structural and geotechnical engineering, all building services engineering, planning, environmental and traffic assessments. The EGO Group and Cardno Low and Hooke also contributed to the design.

Most notably, the new equipment allows the Hobart Mercury to output its own colour printing for the first time, avoiding the current need to fly in colour work overnight from Melbourne.

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GHD has developed RACV’s master plan for a 32ha site with a dramatic outlook over Andersons Inlet, along the Cape Paterson-Inverloch Road in Victoria.

The facility includes a main lodge, detached, self-contained cabins, group accommodation and a remote  'eco-lodge'.

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A unique shading system designed to shield the sun whilst allowing daylight penetration has the potential to radically cut air-conditioning and lighting use in buildings.

In hot countries, keeping offices cool and well lit can consume up to 70 percent of the total power use of a building. Using air-conditioning in isolation to cool a building is both costly and environmentally unsustainable.

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The Darra to Springfield Transport Corridor is the first large-scale integrated road and rail project for South East Queensland.

The purpose of the AUD1.5 billion project is to improve road, rail and public transport links between Darra and Springfield to service the growing population centres along the corridor and will be built in two stages.

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This Palm Islands project in Dubai will support about 20 luxury hotels/resorts, 2000 exclusive residential beachside villas and 27,000 apartments. Office buildings, marinas, theme parks, restaurants, shopping malls, cinemas, community facilities and large areas of public open space also feature.

GHD's services have included:

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The project site covers 93.4ha in a good location in Tianjin city. GHD was commissioned to undertake overall concept design, detailed planning and architectural design.

After investigation of the local markets and studies of the location and landform, GHD architects decided to adopt a western style community planning concept to create a sustainable European-style small town. The concept features a high-profile international villa and an ecological resort that can be developed in a wetland location.

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Traeger Park sporting complex is the main sporting facility for Alice Springs and is a leading Australian venue for national and international sporting events.

In 2003, GHD prepared the master plan for the redevelopment of Traeger Park. This process involved public consultation, scoping and concept development for any future upgrading of the facility.

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GHD has been involved in the development of a Moving Target Range (MTR) for the New Zealand Army’s new light armoured vehicles (LAV).

Located in the Military Training Area north of Waiouru Army Camp, the facility provides training in the mobile engagement of moving targets by the LAV commanders and crew.

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In the spirit of harnessing innovation and raising benchmarks, GHD has developed a spectacular concept for a building of the future, called ZERO.

A hallmark of our company’s integrated multi-disciplinary services, ZERO is located at Richmond Station in Melbourne, Australia. Unveiled at the OUR PLANET Sustainability Forum, ZERO showcases our innovative approach and demonstrates what can be achieved in an energy and resource efficient building.

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