Ambrose Treacy College, QLD

A Catholic school in the tradition of Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist Edmund Rice, Ambrose Treacy College builds on the rich tradition of 76 years providing quality boys’ education through St Joseph’s Nudgee Junior College at its stunning 40-hectare campus overlooking the Brisbane River.

With its aim to “have students learning today and leading tomorrow”, the College naturally seeks to provide a leading educational environment and since 2014 has been engaged in a 3-stage Master Building Plan in transitioning from Nudgee Junior College (a junior school for years 4-7) to Ambrose Treacy College (a combined junior, middle and senior school for years 4-12).

In recent work for the Master Building Plan, roofing was required on two new learning facilities. With one an ‘S’ shaped structure and the other a somewhat simpler fan-like structure with a single curve, FIELDERS was called upon to deploy our mobile rollformer to site to efficiently provide the tapered cladding required for roofing the two new buildings.

With the curving nature of both structures, Fielders FreeForm™ cladding was chosen for its flexibility and ability to be rollformed and tapered on site. Bringing in the Fielders Mobile Mill® meant the cladding for the curving roofs could be rolled, tapered and cut in situ and if the structural steel was out, the machine could allow for adjustments to the sheets immediately, which ensured the job was completed quickly, accurately and efficiently.

Making sure everything ran smoothly naturally required skilled support and detailed planning, as Fielders’ Adelaide-based Carl Bowey – Engineering & Mobile Mill® Manager, explained.

“The Mobile Mill® is built into a 40 foot container and based in Adelaide, so we arranged road transport for the machine, coordinated with a local contractor to place it on the ground on arrival, and also hired a local generator to power the machine.

“Additionally, the coil needed to be slit specially for that job and cut down from our standard coil width of 1200mm wide to 670mm wide. We arranged that separately with BlueScope stock control, organised transport of the steel coil to site, and also brought in two Fielders operators from Sydney and one from Adelaide to run the machine; basically, we liaise with all parties to get everything on site,” Carl said.

“We also went to the College a few weeks prior and met the site personnel, to work out exactly where the machine would be placed and timing for everything to get to site, and also gave technical support. We discussed installation processes such as how we were going to run the sheets, get the sheets to the roof and the builders’ installation methods. We also talked about clips, what seaming machine we would use, and also a running program for the project.

“I then developed all the paperwork - detailing the dates and times for everything to arrive on site so it was coordinated in the right time frame - plus all our safety documentation for the site, as safety is always a critical aspect for Fielders and our customers,” Carl continued. Ambrose Treacy College

“The tapering naturally took a bit of working out, so a lot of work was also done in AutoCAD to lay out the roof and determine what sheet widths we needed. Once on site we ran one sheet and the builder installed it satisfactorily, then we ran another sheet and they installed it - so we were actually adapting our cutting pattern to suit the roof as we went, which is a major advantage with running on site.

“It’s fairly unusual for a building to be built perfectly to architectural drawings every time; with the mobile mill we can adapt the sheets we’re making to fit the building so that when we reach the end of an arc, the last sheet is lining up perfectly with the end of the steelwork and there are no discrepancies. On this project we were to within 3mm, which was very good. “A lot of work goes into such a project, but there are big benefits for our customers in terms of accuracy and efficiency in having the Mobile Mill® on site.”

An innovative roofing profile offering incredible flexibility and design capabilities,Fielders FreeForm™ cladding can meet the most demanding architectural requirements including single skin roof, vertical wall and conical tapered applications.

Adding to its versatility, FreeForm™ cladding can be rolled onsite for extremely long lengths, far beyond transportable size, to suit varying roof configurations. Able to achieve a variety of curves in multiple directions and with an unmatched natural curve limit of 80mm radii, Fielders FreeForm™ cladding leads the way for curved roofing profiles with its effortless ability to adapt to the most complex structural designs.

The Project

The Solution

Fielders FreeForm