Master Builders Victoria is thrilled to announce the 2021 Master Builders Victoria North East Regional Building Awards Commercial Winners and showcase the brilliant accomplishments of our Commercial Regional Master Builders Members. 

The North East Regional Commercial Builder of the Year was awarded to Colin Joss & Co Ltd T/A Joss Construction for the Department of Defence, Joint Health Command Garrison Facilities Upgrade Project, Albury Wodonga Health Centre, at Albury. 

The Joint Health Command Garrison Facilities Upgrade is part of a nationwide Joint Health Command infrastructure upgrade providing fit-for-purpose health care facilities to Australian Defence Force personnel that meets all current Defence policies and Australasian Health Facility Guidelines.

This project involved the construction of a brand-new health facility at South Bandiana, providing a suite of services and functional areas including administration, dentistry, mental health, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and support services typical of such a facility.

The new facility will be fully operational before personnel and equipment are relocated from the existing health centre located at Latchford Barracks. The existing facility will be demolished.

Master Builders Victoria CEO Rebecca Casson congratulated Colin Joss & Co Ltd T/A Joss Construction, who also took out the category for Excellence in Construction of Commercial Buildings over $6M, on their well-deserved award. 

Ms Casson said construction of this facility occurred within an operational army barracks and a coordinated proactive approach to the build ensured that no issues were incurred.

Early works involved the removal and relocation of overhead power lines, and the removal and remediation of an existing underground storage tank.

The slabs were poured over four sessions.

“This staged approach allowed for the electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic services to commence in the other stages,” Ms Casson said.

“Some pours commenced as early as 3am to allow the concrete to cure before the heat of an Albury/Wodonga summer day.”

Meanwhile, the Excellence in Construction of Commercial Buildings $1M-$3M – was awarded to Premier Building & Construction Pty Ltd for The Hub at Walla Walla. 

Ms Casson said the school’s brief was to build a new student learning HUB and teacher’s area to capture Saint Paul’s College Australian bushland heritage. ‘

“The HUB - as it is now known - has a central breezeway leading through the school, with a natural progression of the adjoining existing architecture representing a bush track finishing at a tree-like canopy overlooking the grassy quadrangle,” Ms Casson said.

“The HUB project included the demolition of the existing “Lieschke” Building and associated services finishing with the construction of the new HUB building.

“To connect the new learning HUB with the existing Flexi building - which shares identical exterior design - a new undercover link was also constructed”.

The overall winning project will now represent its region and will be in the running for the 2021 Regional Commercial Builder of the Year award at this year’s Master Builders Victoria Excellence in Construction Awards.