Structural and civil engineering for a 33-villa village expansion, with deep foundations below and stormwater treatment that doubles as the garden.
- Client
- BeGroup
- Services
- Structural, civil & three waters
- Location
- Whangārei
- Scale
- 33 villas (Stage 3)
- Status
- Complete 2019
01 / Project overview
The brief
The Falls Estate is a retirement village on the northern edge of Whangārei, beside the Whangārei Falls and about seven minutes from the city centre. With Stages 1 and 2 complete and occupied, operator BeGroup engaged us to deliver the structural and civil engineering for Stage 3: a 33-villa expansion.
The work combined two challenges. The villas needed foundations suited to the site's ground conditions. The site also needed a full civil package (earthworks, three waters and pavements) that would sit comfortably in a residential setting and be easy for the village to look after.
02 / Our approach
How we delivered it
Foundations and structure
Working from KGA Geotechnical's investigation, we designed the villas on deep piles supporting a suspended waffle slab, with Stahlton rib and infill flooring. Suspending the floor on piles carries the loads down to competent ground, rather than relying on the near-surface soils, and the waffle slab keeps the floor stiff and economical across the pile grid.
Earthworks and pavements
We designed the cut-fill earthworks to form the building platforms and access, along with the driveways and pavements that link the villas to the rest of the village.
Three waters
The civil design covers stormwater, wastewater and water supply for the new stage, connected into the existing village networks.
Stormwater that looks like a garden
The stormwater treatment devices double as low-maintenance planted gardens. As our civil engineer Linda Norman puts it, the system "hides in plain sight". Most of the planting can be maintained by the village's own gardener, with only some elements needing specialist maintenance, which keeps running costs down for the operator.
03 / The outcome
“Stage 3 added 33 villas on deep, robust foundations, with stormwater treatment built into the landscape so it works hard without looking like infrastructure.”
04 / Gallery
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