From a visionary design to a cutting-edge construction

The preliminary placement of supporting structural walls and columns on the lower levels required a creative engineering approach. The architect presented an alternating hotel room layout, positioned above the hotel’s conference and pool facilities on the upper three floors.  These ground-level structural supports were required to distribute the significant, non-linear load throughout the proposed floorplan, maintaining the original configuration. For the buildings services team, the events and dining spaces proved particularly challenging, with the ornate ceilings ensuring that any ducts, vents and diffusers required to condition the air would be recessed into the floor slab, and the continuous curvature of the façade ensuring that any solution would be a tailored one.

The software solution

During the project, 157 Arup problem-solvers applied their individual expertise to the engineering challenges. Initially, Arup senior designers worked closely with Wood Marsh to formulate strategies and solutions that would lead to an integrated building system. A subset of the larger team worked cohesively to model Wood Marsh’s plan in 3D from its initial 2D rendering.

These models, created in Revit, were invaluable for interpreting and resolving the design intent from the architectural drawings. They allowed us to unravel the geometric complexities and to extract answers to broad design questions that would ultimately lead to buildable solutions.

Because of the multiple challenges at hand, Arup’s review, using Solibri’s automated rule-based analysis, was vital in identifying “collisions”, or incompatible design features that defied the structure or the space that it occupied.

Collectively, our parametric toolkit assisted with key elements of the Cape Schanck project, from spatial coordination and design congruence, right through to quality assurance and building code compliance. This allowed Arup to minimise costly design changes, identify design clashes and mitigate risks with remarkable efficiency. Using sophisticated building information modelling (BIM) software, our engineers gained additional clarity and direction to inform the complex construction process, undertaken by Kane Construction.

Similarly, the efforts to minimise heat loss are evident in the thermal wheel system, a clever technology that uses a matrix of rotating, heat-absorbent material to retain and transfer the heat back into the air-handling system, leaving behind the moisture that would otherwise collect on the inside of the windows during cold snaps. Conversely, the double-glazed, tinted glass that envelopes the exterior is balanced to limit the penetration of outside heat without conceding the spectacular evening views that a dark tint would obscure.

Other sustainable features can be found throughout the building’s structure and surrounds, from the façade perforation that meets stringent fire safety codes, to the salt-resistant materials that have enduring longevity in a seaside location, right down to the fan coil units with their extra-efficient piping system.

The art of the build

The building’s fluid form, lacking in right-angles and symmetry, mirrors the cape's rolling dunes and grooved shoreline; an oversized sculpture of curved, reinforced concrete and steel.

The RACV Resort at Cape Schanck offers guests contemporary luxury accommodation, fine dining and a range of guest facilities that include a 25-metre swimming pool, a day spa, conference and event spaces and an 18-hole championship golf course.

And if there's time to enjoy the outlook, it won't be forgotten - visitors are treated to unmatched panoramic views from all three of the resort’s lobed wings, from a rugged stretch of Bass Strait coastline to the resort’s golf course and beyond.