Country:	Australia
Key Area:	Buildings
Services:	Structural Engineering

The sculptural form of the Hamilton Island Yacht Club and Villas required Opus’ structural engineering team to really push the technical boundaries. In delivering the structural design solution for the developer, Hamilton Island Enterprises and the celebrated Australian architect, Walter Barda, who designed the Yacht Club building and accommodation villas, Opus took on the significant challenges of providing the necessary innovation and thinking outside the square.

The Yacht Club main building features a stunning copper roof, the shape of which was inspired by the shape of sails and masts, and a number of terraces that cantilever out over the water. The building houses a central atrium space, recreational and business facilities, contemporary indoor/outdoor restaurants and bars, conference facilities, a theatre and function room, a marina facing gymnasium, a 25m undercover lap pool and outdoor crescent shaped swimming pool, a reading room and an exhibition space. The development also includes a marina and 35 detached luxury villas that are arranged in two tiers, along the foreshore and hillside.

The Opus team balanced the competing demands of designing the structures to withstand the cyclonic winds and rain, the seashore environment and the logistics of the remote off shore site access – with the architects and developers vision for a modern, streamline nautical profile, a complex roof design and the cantilevered terraces. The team were succesful in provided innovative, cost-effective structural and foundation solutions to address the variety of competing architectural, geotechnical, environmental and construction challenges presented at this remote Great Barrier Reef development.

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