Ascent on Bourke stands as Sydney’s first large-scale, multi-storey warehouse and office facility. This state-of-the-art centre offers sophisticated and advanced warehouse and logistics opportunities, aiming to meet the growing demand for modern industrial spaces. The facility boasts the largest warehouse and floor plates in the local area, featuring high-clearance warehouses, contemporary office spaces, and excellent connectivity to major transport networks.
With features such as a 36-meter covered breezeway for all-weather loading, high-clearance warehouse spaces, and flexible office layouts, Ascent on Bourke sets a new standard for industrial developments. The project’s success hinged on innovative construction techniques and materials, one of which was Fielders' KingFlor® KF70® metal deck formwork system.
KF70®: Meeting modern construction demands
Fielders KF70® is an advanced steel formwork solution designed for composite concrete slabs in both concrete and steel-framed construction. It addresses the growing demand for lightweight profiles that can span large distances. The KF70® profile displaces up to 26mm of concrete from the overall slab depth, leading to significant savings in material costs and reductions in foundation loads.
“KF70® is a tried and tested trapezoidal metal deck formwork system that provides a robust and stiff floor to suit the high performance requirements necessitated in the new wave of multi-level industrial developments,” explained Marko Stankovic, National Engineering Manager – Design Solutions Group (DSG), Fielders.
With features such as SquashCut™ ends for enhanced stability, unique off-set laps for optimal shear stud placement, and strong re-entrant properties for reliable shear bond performance, KF70® offers an efficient and effective solution for modern construction needs.
Optimising multi-storey design:
The multi-storey design of Ascent on Bourke required a formwork system that could handle the complex requirements of a modern, high-performance industrial facility. The KF70® system proved to be the ideal choice due to its efficiency and adaptability.
“The use of KF70® is driven by the multi-storey design and how efficient the engineers can use this product compared with others on the market,” said Agostinho Rodrigues, Managing Director of Santana Studwelding.
Concrete displacement and cost efficiency
One of the standout features of the KF70® system is its ability to significantly reduce material costs.
Marko notes that “26mm of displaced concrete volume reduces the load on the columns, foundations and lateral stability systems. This is a benefit inherent and exclusive to KF70® that isn’t available by using traditional metal deck profiles.”
This reduction in concrete volume both cuts costs and lessens the structural load, leading to further savings in the supporting framework and foundation.
Superior structural performance
The structural performance of the KF70® system is another critical factor that made it the preferred choice for Ascent on Bourke.
“KF70®’s deep trapezoidal geometry results in significantly improved stiffness relative to traditional metal deck profiles, allowing it to span much further, enabling optimisation of the supporting steel beams. Coupled with KF70®’s ability to displace 26mm of concrete volume off the slab, it’s perfectly suited to optimising the structural design in highly loaded industrial floors,” Marko explained.
Collaborative solutions for complex requirements
Ascent on Bourke’s extensive 34,000sqm area required strategic management to ensure stakeholder requirements and expectations were met.
“Fielders DSG undertook a full shop drawing service, providing a detailed decking layout to suit the proposed sequencing on-site. This decking layout enabled optimisation of bundling of sheets to suit the sequencing on site, which reduced double handling of packs,” Marko explained.
“We worked closely with all the relevant stakeholders to ensure their project program requirements were met with the proposed staging, enabled by the decking layout and delivery logistics support provided by the DSG team.”
The project team also faced challenges with the complex curved sections of the ramps. Agostinho noted that "there are significant curved sections with the ramp areas that were extremely intricate. The Fielders team assisted with developing unique solutions to provide real solutions onsite in a timely manner."
Fielders' involvement extended beyond supply, providing robust support throughout the construction process.
“Fielders were fantastic in supporting the IFC and cutting lists and development of construction solutions,” Agostinho said. “The support from the Fielders technical engineers and design solutions group is the best in the market by a long way.”
Enhancing construction outcomes with KF70®
The successful use of the KF70® system in the Ascent on Bourke project led to substantial positive outcomes and benefits.
“Leveraging our in-house subject matter expertise in design, documentation and construction of steel composite structures, we supported all the stakeholders on the project (builder, engineer, deck installer, etc) to ensure a smooth experience throughout,” Marko explained.
“All the KF70® metal decking was installed according to plan, enabled by the decking layouts, meeting the strict project program. The superior deck performance enabled concrete pours and finishing with heavy equipment in an unpropped manner. The stiffness of the KF70® ensured minimal deflection during and post pour, meeting the stringent floor deflection criteria.”
Agostinho Rodrigues also emphasised the efficiency and speed of the KF70® installation.
“The speed of installation and delivering another new to the market multi-storey industrial development is key. This is only possible with steel frame buildings using Fielders flooring products,” he added.
The KF70® impact
With the use of Fielders' KF70® system, the Ascent on Bourke project showcases the significant advancements being made in construction technology and materials.
The outcomes achieved with KF70® have set a new standard for future projects, showcasing the system's versatility, performance, and value in the modern construction landscape. Ascent on Bourke stands as a testament to the benefits of embracing innovative materials and techniques to meet the evolving needs of industrial infrastructure.
