Queensland University of Technology

Country: Australia
Key Area: Buildings
Services: Asset Management

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was already a recognised leader in facilities management before they engaged Opus for a five-yearly review of their facilities condition, functionality, and valuation. They see a regular independent examination of their facilities as an essential part of an on-going facility management process. Opus was chosen in a competitive process, from an initial pool of 25 consultants, because of their track record in asset management at other universities, and for their capacity to appropriately resource this complex project. QUT caters for 30,000 students across two campuses in the Brisbane CBD. An emphasis on teaching is shifting to an increasingly research-based focus, particularly in key areas of expertise. As a result, facilities are required to support the change while continuing to provide a high standard of day-to-day accommodation. In addition, courses in health, creative industries, and science and technology need the latest specialist facilities to keep pace with students’ future workplace environments. Opus has been the principal consultant for this project, providing the framework and expertise, working alongside specialist external plumbing, electrical, and mechanical contractors. The team developed a new user-friendly functionality system, based on rating each space using a simple yet meaningful scale that produces valuable output. The assessment involved asking a set of questions of a range of staff who use the spaces, from administration staff and lecturers to senior academic and management personnel. Up to 80 user groups were consulted with to ensure that insightful feedback was provided for all spaces. Having gathered a large amount of data from user surveys, field surveys and existing information from QUT, functionality, compliance and forecast expenditure were assessed. The project deliverables included a building status report for all buildings, an external site works status report for each campus, a valuation report, and a master report which summarises the key findings.