Hickory Building Systems: Modern Construction Project Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Hickory Building Systems (HBS), a modern construction technology, focusing on its application in the La Trobe Street Student Accommodation project. The report highlights HBS's innovative approach, which includes streamlined design and engineering, prefabrication, and the use of electric cranes for efficient construction. The report examines the problems associated with traditional construction methods, such as time consumption and high costs, and contrasts them with the benefits of HBS. These benefits include significant cost savings (estimated at $50-80 per month for a 3,000 sq ft building), accelerated project timelines (50% faster than traditional methods), and enhanced worker safety due to pre-installed facades. The analysis also covers the quality aspects, emphasizing the reduction of waste and energy consumption, and discusses potential improvements, such as waste reduction and environmental management. The report concludes by showcasing HBS as a sustainable and efficient alternative to conventional construction, delivering innovative and quality solutions from groundwork to project completion.

Hickory Building Systems
Student Name, Student Number, Email Address

Hickory Building System Surname of the first author
Executive Summary
The report focuses on Hickory Building Systems, and it is the building technology brings an
innovative and scientific alternatives to the building of high rise developments. This construction
technology minimizes materials as well as energy waste by 30-50%, with maximization of the quality
along with safety. The modern construction method is enhanced in both on-site as well as off-site
constructing programs. By means of this building technology, the system is used to build the building
at any height as well as layout, while it is definitely used to build over 70 stories of height building.
The advantage of this system is bringing an efficient construction process as well as flexibility in a
variety of the services in addition business solutions. The project solution enables the construction
professionals to deliver the project to the client and outperforms on the measures to time, cost, safety,
quality in addition sustainability. The building system is delivering the client based on requirements,
innovative and quality solutions from groundwork phase to the final project completion. The building
solution reduces 50% of the time in addition completes the project in faster rate with reduction of the
construction cost, improve over quality in addition to control worker’s safety.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1.Company Name, Characteristics
Hickory Building Innovation is a recognized construction business, with a self-performance abilities to
work in the construction field. The company has over 25 years of experiences in building of the main
high rise building projects. Hickory building innovation is able to propose completed key construction
solutions to the project clients, by means of using Hickory Building Systems in the manufacturing as
well as construction departments (Hickory.com.au 2018).
1.2.Project Name, Description
The case study report is reflected on “Hickory Building Systems (HBS)”, an innovative construction
method is allowed to deliver the structured building work and is outperformed on measures of the
competence, sustainability in addition to quality. The selected project using this Hickory Building
Systems is “La Trobe Street Student Accommodation”. It is nearly 150 meters high building project,
and considered as one of the world’s highest student housing projects. It has used prefabricated
construction procedures to deliver the project on time (Hickory.com.au 2019). The features of the
project are:
Delivery method: Hickory Building Systems
No of levels: 44
No of student’s beds: 783
2. THE PROBLEM(S)
The problem of the traditional building method of the construction is that it takes more time to
construct as well as it required a high skilled of construction employees to perform the building and
construction work. It can add significant construction cost for the building work, and there is
expensive materials as well as labor costs. The problem with the construction work is that there is
required more planning, designing, prior approval for each construction phases, preparation of the
construction and building development work. In case of the traditional building work, there is required
of natural construction materials and manual construction equipment to construct the building (Kumar
2016). The traditional construction method is required accepted norm and it takes a long period of
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time to accept the norm. In order to overcome with those problems, modern building innovation is
taken in considerations as an innovative construction method to develop the construction work with
efficient planning, in addition designing (Li, Luther and Mills 2017). It would help to reduce
construction period, construction and operational cost as well as maintain construction sustainability.
3. THE INNOVATION(S)
Hickory Building Innovation is provided with streamlined designing and engineering work, and it is
state of structural system integrated shear walls, façade of the building as well as student
accommodation. The capabilities of the HBS are started with engineering concrete floor, building
façade and other modern materials and equipment. HBS is appropriate for the high rise projects
included apartments, hotels, accommodation of students as well as hospitals and healthcare centers. By
means of using this construction method in the accommodation of students, the construction work
becomes tallest prefabricated project in Australia for the student accommodation (ReezaYusofa et al.
2016). The student accommodation building is constructed with a bronze curtain wall with the façade
featured with open air terraces at different levels of the tower. The selection of the Hickory Building
Innovation system reduces the construction program with 30% of the savings as compared to the
conventional building procedures (Viliūnienė and Inokaitytė 2011). The innovative construction
method is used electric crane for delivering as well as installation of the prefabricated elements. The
main benefits of this Hickory Building Innovation system in the construction work of La Trobe Street
Student Accommodation are minimized of the traffic as well as congestion of site throughout the day.
Hickory has worked with the project clients as well as the architect for delivering last minute design
and the student accommodation project is conserved with façade, as well as power welcomed by the
Melbourne City Council as well as heritage groups (Hickory.com.au 2018). In order to construct the
student accommodation, floor-to-floor benefits to the building system can able to lodge additional
levels deprived of providing any impact on the internal height of the ceilings. It can take around ten
millions of dollars for providing extra net saleable area for project development.
4. OUTCOME – LIST SPECIFIC BENEFITS INCLUDING ANY DATA ON SAFETY,
QUALITY, COST, OR SCHEDULE
Cost Savings: Applying the modern building system for designing of the manufacturing model, it
helps to build procedures of building work. It enables to provide proper costing of the construction
materials while minimization of the financial budget. The building system has been scaled since small
rise to the high rise, while large to small featured ratio and, it provides with system flexibility as well
as the effectiveness of the project cost. By using this system, there is a reduction of the construction
and operational cost due to short time for building, labor cost reduction, in addition to reduction of
waste (Fedotova, Maltsev and Tazihina 2015). The solution is cost effective as it leads to reduce
around $50-80 on monthly basis for around building of 3,000 square feet of work.
Time: By creating the construction program as well as the building system, it eliminates risks of the
weather delays. The HBS is to be carried for the project client with 50% faster rate as compared to the
traditional construction methods. High rise building project is being accelerated by use of the HBS,
which can help to fast track the completion of the project work by 50% (Hickory.com.au 2019). Both
on-site as well as off-site construction work is being accelerated with proper construction planning, as
well as meeting with the construction time.
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Figure 1: Time comparison of Hickory Building Systems and Conventional Construction
(Source: Hickory.com.au 2019, pp.10)
Based on the above figure, it is analyzed that the conventional construction method takes more time in
the construction and building work as compared to HBS. The construction system also enables parallel
tracking of the construction work and reduces the construction time by approximately 50% as
compared to traditional and conventional concrete as well as construction procedures (Sunday 2018).
By addition of the finished as well as fitted student accommodation, the entire fit out cycle of the HBS
construction project is being compressed.
Safety: HBS structure is providing the construction site with finished facades, therefore it removes the
risks of falls of the workers as well as remove requirement to perform work on building edge.
Therefore, it forms a safer environment for the workers as well as public people. HBS diminishes risk
of falling to workforces as the construction structure is being arrived to site with the completed
facades as well as balconies (Desai 2013). By means of this modern construction method, minimum
work is needed on building edge as on-site construction work occurs after guard of pre-installed
façade. Fitting of the student accommodation building in measured environment ensures that safety
agreement is being observed. As this building system is more controlled and monitored, therefore
safety issues are being resolved. All the construction workers are provided with detailed safety
induction program to commence the construction work. The safety supervisor provided quality and
safety controls and measured for all the construction workers. The safety system of Hickory Group is
being certified with AS/NZS 4801:2001 occupational health and safety management system. It is also
practiced in office of the Federal safety commission. The benefits of this safety approach of the HBS
project, is that the project had recorded 0 instances of the falling cases of the workers to the current
date.
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Figure 2: Falling objects reported to the worksafe, recorded to Australian construction sites
(Source: Hickory.com.au 2019, pp.12)
Quality: The independent research work is demonstrated with the HBS as offered the client and
management with sustainable solutions. In this regards, it is a quality solutions provided to the project
client. It is utilized of less carbon emissions, reduction of waste and energy in addition water usage
through this construction and building process (Hydari 2010). As the building system provides
sustainable solution to the clients, therefore it accelerates on-site as well as off-site construction work
by 30-50% of the minimization of the supplies as well as energy wastage, while exploiting the quality
in addition safety. Integration of HBS for student accommodation building takes around 12 trades off
building site as well as controlled construction environment on the floor. It reduces on-site fitting
cycles by 30% as well as makes sure that there is a high quality of construction work. The student
accommodation is built to the construction specifications as well as reached to the construction site
fixed with the service networks, perfect finishes as well as lightning (Hee-Sung, Ki-Hyun and Young-
Jin 2012). This building system is provided with an original scientific alternative to construction of the
high rise project work. It accelerates the construction work by around 30%, with minimization of the
materials as well as a waste of energy. This innovative project leads to maximize both quality of the
construction materials as well as the safety of the construction workers (Gawari and Phatak 2018).
This building technology is focused to provide one of the best manufacturing as well as construction
technology. The self-performance abilities of the Hickory project is delivering the project clients with
best building and construction solutions.
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Figure 3: Estimation of quality reduction using Hickory Building System
(Source: Hickory.com.au 2019, pp.15)
From the above figure, it is analyzed that by means of using the construction building system, there is
below 20% reduction of construction waste, below 80% reduction of the truck deliveries to the
construction site in addition below 60% time taken for construction building.
5. POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT(S) ON THIS INNOVATION(S)
Hickory Building System can provide improved environmental appearances through the construction
as compared to the conventional systems by following factors such as:
a. All the construction work is to be finished in a controlled environment so that there is a
reduction of 90% waste.
b. It is mentioned that 98% of the factory produced waste, being raised by means of ISO 14001
certified discarded disposal business (Pearce et al. 2010).
c. By means of the computerized cutting machines, the ordering of the construction materials
becomes accurate and easier, as well as excess waste is being kept at a minimum level.
d. In the construction site by means of using the innovative building system, minimal
construction work is needed on the construction site to complete as well as the fit out the
project student accommodation (Jarkas 2016). It helps to eliminate the risk of the paint as
well as plaster washout in storm water.
e. The environmental management scheme is used in Hickory construction method with
AS/NZS 14001:2004 so that a sustainable construction work is being received by the project
organization and the client.
f. With the HBS project, it finishes up to 50% faster as associated with other building method,
therefore it makes an improvement over local community throughout the construction work.
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g. The construction programme using HBS is reduced by 12 months, therefore it provides
community benefits by reduction of noise carried out at the construction site. It takes place in
arrears pre-attached façade.
h. Shorter building period can benefit the professional owner and also apartments in the
construction areas (Rakhmatullin and Brennan 2014).
i. The construction method helps to reduce the construction waste, noise population, and
congestion of traffic, while the increase in publicity and worker’s safety for the local
community throughout the entire construction period (Samarasinghe et al. 2016).
6. CONCLUSION
It is concluded that the Hickory Building System is the partnered building technology which delivers
innovative and technological construction work substitute to the building of the high rise project work.
The advantages of this construction or building system are cost savings, reduction of time, increase
safety of the construction workers and maintain quality of the materials in addition sustainability. The
construction method provides local community benefits by reduction of truck deliveries and reduction
of construction noise. It also leads to provide better outcomes to the client through modern
construction work. The building system enables to track the construction programme and reduced the
time by around 50%. It provides a speed in the construction work as well as meets the timeline so that
the project client is satisfied.
7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With pleasure, I would like to thank my supervisor _____________ for their support and guidance
through the entire case study work. This knowledge gained from this case study guided me to work in
the future.
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8. REFERENCES
Desai, V., 2013. Functional Suitability of BIM Tools in Pre-Construction, Construction and Post-
Construction Phases of a Building Project. International Journal of 3-D Information
Modeling, Volume 2, pp. 30-44.
Fedotova, M., Maltsev, S. and Tazihina, T., 2015. PROJECT COST MANAGEMENT AT THE
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION STAGE. Effective crisis management, p. 68.
Gawari, S. and Phatak, U., 2018. Analysis of Causes of Wastages of Construction Materials on
Building Construction Site. Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied
Education, Volume 15, pp. 527-531.
Hee-Sung, C., Ki-Hyun, K. and Young-Jin, K., 2012. Selecting Optimum Management Practices in
Pre-construction Phase Considering Project Characteristics. Journal of Construction
Engineering and Project Management, Volume 2, pp. 1-4.
Hickory.com.au, 2018. Hickory Building Systems > Hickory Group. [online] Hickory.com.au.
Available at: <https://www.hickory.com.au/what-we-do/our-systems/hickory-building-systems?
lang=en> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Hickory.com.au, 2019. Hickory Building Systems.. [online] Hickory.com.au. Available at:
<https://www.hickory.com.au/docs/hickory-building-systems-overview.pdf> [Accessed 16 April
2020].
Hydari, H., 2010. Book Review: Strategic Project Portfolio Management: Enabling a Productive
Organization. Project Management Journal, Volume 41, p. Project Management Journal.
Jarkas, A., 2016. A new approach to benchmark the variability of construction labour productivity.
International Journal of Engineering Management and Economics, Volume 6, p. 38.
Kumar, S., 2016. Hickory Building System (HBS) innovation and successful application in a 44 storey
building in Melbourne. In Australasian Structural Engineering Conference: ASEC 2016 (p. 465).
Engineers Australia.
Li, H.X., Luther, M. and Mills, A., 2017. Prefabrication in the Australian context. Modular and Offsite
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Pearce, A., Shenoy, S., Fiori, C. and Winters, Z., 2010. The State of Sustainability Best Practices in
Construction: A Benchmark Study. Journal of Green Building, Volume 5, pp. 116-130.
Rakhmatullin, R. and Brennan, L., 2014. Facilitating innovation in European research area through
pre-competitive EU-funded COST Actions. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
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ReezaYusofa, M., Musaa, M.F., Samsudina, N.S., Mohammadb, M.F. and Baharuddina, M.N., 2016.
Industrialised Building System (IBS)/Off-Site Project Management Life Cycle.
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Sunday, O., 2018. Perceived Effects of Prevalent Errors in Contract Documents on Construction
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Viliūnienė, O. and Inokaitytė, L., 2011. PLANNING CONSTRUCTION EXECUTION IN THE
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