CHALLENGE

Defending the nation’s top secret data is a tough business. That’s why the Department of Defence has Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, where the nation’s secrets can be freely discussed by military officers, intelligence operatives and diplomats. PCB delivered a refurbishment of one such SCIF site – the Australian Hydrographic Office (AHO) in Wollongong. This project made PCB one of the very few contractors in Australia to be engaged in the delivery of a top secret SCIF build. The scope was a complete refurbishment and so encompassed every aspect of the proposed works in this tender including: full strip out and demolition of all non-base building fabrics floor by floor, new floor coverings and ceilings, partitions and paint, furnishings, mechanical and electrical fit out, UPS, server rooms including IT infrastructure installation, hydraulics and accessible bathroom works.

SOLUTION

This project required Top Secret/SCIF works and specifications in addition to specialised security elements such as Type 1a Security Infrastructure, Comms/DRN/DSN/DPN/HMIE, Fire suppression/detection, CCTV and DCAC access. The AHO itself shares a great deal in common with the facilities at HMAS Waterhen in as much as the building is a multi-level commercial/administrative functions structure, built comprising of almost identical core fabrics as those employed in the three main assets at HMAS Waterhen. The project demonstrates a continued capacity on the part of PCB to successfully deliver complex refurbishment tasks within the Defence estate. PCB managed a large project team in a complex schedule to ensure quality outcomes and readily adapted to continued client-side design changes and amendments to reduce impact to the delivery programme while successfully managing the needs of the wide and complex stakeholder group.