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GHD recently joined celebrations to mark the re-opening of Queensland’s Daydream Island resort, following the provision of a wide range of services that contributed to the resort’s stunning transformation.
Working with owners, China Capital Investment Group, GHD provided services from project inception, right through to final resort handover. This included design, engineering, project management, construction superintendency and contract administration.
Robby Chohan, Technical Director — Structures / Property & Buildings, GHD and project manager for the redevelopment, says the transformation incorporated all accommodation wings, the central guest facilities, arrivals building, multiple restaurants, buildings and various other front-of-house facilities and features.
“The design phase was already well underway when the region was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Debbie in March 2017, so additional rectification works were incorporated as part of the redevelopment,” Robby Chohan said.
Key features GHD included were the installation of an underwater observatory, living reef and on-land lagoon which is the only of its kind in Australia.”
The living reef coral lagoon wraps around the central resort building, and is home to more than 100 different kinds of aquatic creatures which can be seen from this observatory.
The on-land living reef draws seawater directly from the ocean and circulates it into the lagoon without treatment. The water flows naturally and via water management systems around the lagoon and then flows out to the ocean, again without treatment or filtration, discharging directly into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
“Essentially, we have created a land based extension to the Great Barrier Reef offering a unique snorkelling experience, underwater observatory, reef education centre and underwater function facility.”
For GHD’s people in North Queensland, the project provided an exceptional opportunity to be involved in a complex, multidisciplinary project which was one of the largest redevelopments in the Whitsundays in recent years.
Once the project moved into construction, GHD maintained a full-time site presence which provided an excellent opportunity for more than 10 of our emerging engineers in North Queensland to gain first-hand experience in delivering complex infrastructure.
“Like any project of this scale, it was certainly challenging at times, however our team rose to the occasion and have contributed to delivering a remarkable outcome for our client,” concluded Robby Chohan.