RP Infrastructure

ICON Oceania, a diverse property group specialising in premium boutique residential and hotel developments, acquired a site in Sydney’s desirable inner-city suburb of Surry Hills to develop an eight-story residential complex, Calibre.

Project Overview

Designed by renowned architect Koichi Takada, Calibre features a selection of 18 luxury apartments including three-bedroom penthouses, one and two bedroom apartments and executive studio apartments, all of which showcase enduringly beautiful interiors with high-end finishes and fixtures.

The project will be delivered under a design, novate, document and construct contract delivery methodology in order to leverage buildability input from the contractor and manage an accepted level of project risk for ICON Oceania.

Our Role

RP Infrastructure was engaged by ICON Oceania to provide full project management services for the design, development and construction of Calibre. Root Partnerships successfully navigated the project through the required development approvals with the City of Sydney Council and various service authorities. As part of our procurement strategy Root Partnerships prepared and administered a competitive tender process and provided guidance to our client through contract negotiation and award.

RP Infrastructure continues to work closely with the contractor and design team, with the project scheduled for completion in 2019.

Key Challenge

A key challenge for RP Infrastructure was to deliver for our client a return on investment that matched their budgeted expectations for the project in the context of a heated residential market. Our client initially wanted to negotiate a contract with one of their regular construction contractors, whilst the initial early contractor engagement and negotiations provided valuable construction insight and cost advice, it did not provide an acceptable level of value in order to continue down this path. By further developing the design and arranging authority approvals, the team at RP Infrastructure was able to remove many unresolved aspects of the project, thus lowering its risk profile. With fewer uncertainties’ and a competitive tender process, contractors were able to commit to an acceptable budget.