Joondalup City Centre

Benchmark Projects Managing Director Chris Carman began work on this project as Engineering Coordinator before progressing to project manager for the development of Joondalup City – now the strategic heart of Perth’s north west corridor.

Client
LandCorp – the Western Australia Government’s land development agency.

Scope of Work
A far-reaching scope, it entailed commercial, residential, retail, serviced industrial land subdivision, the development of Joondalup Arena, street lighting, arterial road network and service infrastructure and an extensive landscape network. LandCorp has invested more than $250 million into this project in addition to a State Government contribution of $500 million and a $25 million injection by the City of Joondalup – a catalyst for more than $1 billion in private sector investment

Challenges
The sheer scale of this project necessitated breaking it down into several elements including; the City North and Lakeside Residential sub-divisions, the Central Business District, arterial roads, Collier Pass Bridge and Station Square Tunnel, as well as bulk earthworks for the major shopping centre site and railway cutting through the City and involving the movement of more than one million cubic metres of fill material.

Innovations and Solutions

• Benchmark Projects delivered flexible planning, inclusive design and implementation processes and defined, measurable and agreed targets.
• City North – a 300 lot R60 subdivision incorporated innovative residential mixed use and commercial development zones – is recognised as one of the forerunners of “new urbanism” in subdivision design in Western Australia.
• Each element of the Joondalup City Centre, managed by Benchmark Projects, achieved time, cost and quality objectives and was brought in well under budget through innovation in the detailed design and construction stages.

Outcomes
The Joondalup City Centre project was brought in on time, to an exceptionally high standard within three per cent of the original budget. It incorporated high quality built form and landscaping that supported the development of a unique local identity. By 2021 the Joondalup City Centre is expected to serve a catchment population of half a million people.