Designed as a community hub for a local Ipswich church, this hall provides a welcoming space that fosters connection, engagement, and a sense of belonging. The new 668m² space features a modern and flexible design that encourages social connection, supports a wide range of community activities, and supports the church’s future growth.
RMA was involved from the early concept stage and provided key civil and structural engineering services to support both the Development Application and Operational Works phases.
Our structural team’s design used large steel portal frames to achieve a spacious, open floor plan, while maintaining the architect’s aesthetic vision. Careful consideration was given to deflection control to preserve the feature glazing along the façade.
One of the main challenges on this project was an existing sewer line running through the proposed building footprint. Instead of pursuing a costly build-over solution, our team worked closely with Urban Utilities to achieve an efficient and accepted alternative. Through a detailed options assessment, we identified a more economical sewer diversion strategy.
Our team undertook further upstream catchment analysis to demonstrate that the existing infrastructure could support the proposed development. This supported substantial cost savings for the client, allowing them to avoid extensive and costly network upgrades. Through ongoing coordination with Urban Utilities and our in-house structural team, we supported an efficient approval process and minimised delays.
We also identified an opportunity to save costs through a bespoke earthworks strategy that addressed the site’s reactive soil. Rather than adopting an extensive suspended footing system, we provided an engineered fill pad solution to re-classify the site and reduce soil reactivity. This allowed for a simpler, more economical footing solution.