Groundbreaking celebrations at Herring Road, Macquarie Park
We recently celebrated an exciting milestone for the Freecity Group – the commencement on site of our first Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) development at 169-171 Herring Road, Macquarie Park.
Setting a new benchmark for PBSA, the distinctive design by Cox Architecture features 528 single occupancy units for students, with a mix of communal open space and extensive shared amenities. The project will be constructed with Freecity’s Volumetric Modular Construction (VMC) methodology and delivered with our fully integrated in-house development capabilities for VMC and construction. When complete, the student complex will be Australia’s tallest VMC project, at 20 storeys.
Freecity executives, key stakeholders and project partners gathered together at the site on a glorious sunny day in early April, to commemorate this important occasion.
Special guests included Federal Member for Bennelong, Jerome Laxale MP; former NSW Building Commissioner and ConstructionEdge’s David Chandler OAM; Cox Architecture’s Felipe Miranda; Business Western Sydney’s David Borger and Bruce McClelland; and Chinese Building Association NSW’s Carson Gao.
The formal proceedings featured several speeches and the time-honoured tradition of an official ‘Groundbreaking’, complete with ceremonial shovels. The guests then enjoyed refreshments and the opportunity to catch up and reflect on the importance of this project for Freecity and for the broader construction and housing industries.
Speaking at the event, Freecity’s CSO, Steven Mann said, “We are changing the landscape of construction in Australia using VMC. That’s the culture at Freecity, we are based on innovating – innovating future living.”
David Chandler OAM congratulated Freecity for being at the forefront of VMC in Australia, saying the project’s use of VMC “must be the lighthouse” for the industry as a new methodology that will help to bring quality housing supply to market sooner.
Federal Member for Bennelong, Mr Jerome Laxale MP, also acknowledged the significance of the project, saying “Modular construction is the future of this industry. I applaud Freecity for their innovation, their commitment to getting this out of the ground…it’s a sign of what the industry can achieve as we need to build more homes in NSW and Australia.”
Our sincere thanks to everyone who joined us at the Groundbreaking event and to all our employees, construction partners and stakeholders who have contributed to the project so far. We look forward to celebrating many more project milestones together.
Watch a video of the event and learn more about this exciting project
