A key part of this vision was a new administration building for Ipswich City Council headquarters, surrounded by a community cultural precinct called ‘Tulmur Place’ which includes a new public library, retail tenancies, interactive water features and a piazza to host entertainment activities for the city.

DMA Engineers was engaged by SDF Electrical to complete the Electrical design for the Ipswich City Council headquarters, public library, upgrade of the basement carpark interactive water features and plaza.

The lighting design is a key element of Tulmar Place, which is designed to animate the space, inviting visitors to meet at, and engage with, the precinct at night as well as during the day.

Our work on the project included:

• Designing the Ipswich City Council administration building to 5 star NABERS, 5 star Green Star and PCA A Grade compliance. This involved individual metering of all electrical components, and efficient lighting and control.
• Provision for backup generation of the administration building for 100% building operations for a period of 24 hours.
• Lighting design for the new public library and administration building.
• Taking the existing outdoor lighting design for the plaza through to final construction, working with the team to ensure there were no visible lighting poles throughout the plaza area.
• Electrical design for the new public library and administration building.

Designing with Building Information Modelling (BIM) allowed us to fully coordinate internally between the electrical services and all other services, ensuring any issues could be easily resolved during construction. Coordination sessions were undertaken virtually in real time allowing for swift resolution of issues. The use of BIM also allowed for the electrical services to be installed efficiently with all clashes resolved during design, minimising delays and meeting client expectations.

Tulmur Place was opened to the public in late 2019. The Library and administration building will open in mid-2021.