North Construction were engaged to construct the Impact Centre after the previous building, Coastlife Church, was destroyed by fire. Before commencing the construction of the centre, North completed the demolition of the previous site under a separate contract.
The ground floor slab was constructed over the footprint of the previous building with additional footings and services cut through the existing slab. The first floor consisted of a suspended post tensioned concrete slab with the remainder of the structure built from structural steel and precast concrete panels.
At the request of the client and in order for the project to be feasible, North’s team invested a great deal of effort value engineering the project. This included replacing the originally designed timber framed structure with a structural steel frame and dividing the building into stages with the Auditorium and first floor fit out to be completed at a later stage.
The facility boasts a 24 hour gym and wellness centre, two storey childrens play centre, 100 seat cafe, learning and development services, event and function facilities, indoor and outdoor wedding spaces and a large warehouse space which collectively come together to create a centre which accommodates thousands of Central Coast residents and is a benefit to the entire community.
A great deal of coordination was required in managing the procurement process, as many key elements were supplied directly by the client. This was made more challenging as a number of these items were imported from overseas. After years of planning and involving a construction team that were passionate about the project, the Impact Centre is an innovative and creative design with energy efficient and sustainable building practices. The Impact Centre has set a new benchmark for community facilities in Australia it is a facility which is functional and cost efficient, with a strong emphasis on the people of the Central Coast.