Australian Institute of Sport development (Australian Sports Commission)

• Major sports facilities upgrade
• Linking 620 people from 160 companies
• Fast information access and complete archive

Streamlining communication and reducing risk on sports facility development

Client

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is Australia’s primary national sports administration and advisory agency. On behalf of the Australian Government, the ASC plays a central leadership role in the development and operation of the Australian sports system.

A key component of the ASC is the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Australia’s leading centre of excellence for high performance sport. It plays an integral part in preparing Australian athletes and teams for competition in the lead-up to World Championships and Olympic Games.

Project

The ASC undertook a comprehensive redevelopment of its AIS campus in Canberra. The project involved the construction of new residences for 144 athletes, including a study hall and dining facilities. The development also included a new Aquatic Testing and Training Centre, a Sports Development and Education Centre, administration centre for the ASC, an indoor 120-metre running track, an altitude complex, and a range of multipurpose training facilities. Related civil infrastructure, such as roads and car parking, were also upgraded.

Challenges

The AIS redevelopment was delivered as nine separate packages, each of which involved its own project team. The ASC soon identified that traditional tools for managing project information – such as paper documents and email – simply couldn’t support their needs.

Peter Mollison, General Manager of Facilities Services at the Australian Sports Commission said, “When coming on board, each of our contractors and suppliers needed access to a full history of information so they could be up and running quickly. Being spread across so many different packages meant that we needed a central place to find what we needed.

“Tools like email are fine in their own way, but they lack the depth and precision needed on projects like this. The file size restrictions meant that it was very hard to attach large drawings and there is no audit trail of what has been received or responded to.”

Solution

The ASC selected to use the Aconex project collaboration system to manage information across the AIS redevelopment. 

Results

Information at their fingertips

More than 620 team members from 160 organizations used Aconex to collaborate. Mollison said, “Aconex was a stable, authoritative database which everyone could access. Head Contractors were able to communicate with their architects, designers, consultants and subcontractors easily, and as everyone was using the one system, there was no confusion over where the information was.”

“The real value in a system like Aconex is the ability for organizations to quickly clarify and check-back on work, as it isn’t held up by people not receiving information or waiting for a response,” added Mollison.

“It became an integral part of the project.”

Peter Mollison, General Manager of Facilities Services at the Australian Sports Commission 

Complete archive of information

“Over the course of the project, a number of companies joined and left as various stages were completed. Using Aconex meant that nothing was missed and at any stage a company can see what has been agreed and next steps.

“Even now we are in the Maintenance Operations phase, I still use the system archive to find what I need quickly and easily,” said Mollison.

An industry-specific solution

“One of the key benefits of Aconex is that all information is completely transparent and no party has more control than the other. This facilitates an open environment where everyone is on the same page, which is essential on a construction project.”

Mollison added, “When we started using Aconex, we thought the system was great and over time, a number of improvements were made to the system which really reflected that Aconex was an evolving platform that caters for our needs. As time went on, the value that the system gave us grew and it became an integral part of the project.”