Delivering a high-quality fitout while working around an active sporting schedule

The Western Bulldogs Football Club (WBFC) engaged SHAPE to deliver their Women’s Health and Leadership Hub – a place that improves the social, emotional and physical health and wellbeing of women, and empowers the next generation of female leaders. Located within the Mission Whitten Oval precinct in Footscray, the project included refurbishment of internal gym, amenities, office, meeting and breakout spaces across the existing John Gent Stand and the new Infill Building.

The scope of works for Level 1 of the John Gent Stand included new amenities (including toilets, showers and accessible changing room facilities) which required underslung works into a live space, a new gym space with 80mm acoustic flooring, a Pilates studio featuring timber flooring, five allied health consulting suite rooms and a ‘main street’ circulation corridor to open the space. A crane lift was required for the removal and replacement of mechanical plant equipment on the roof, servicing the new fitout.

Works for Level 3 of the Infill Building included a large, centralised hosting area with high-end finishes, a kitchenette, a large AV installation (130-inch display screen), two meeting rooms, a storage room and a separate boardroom space.

SHAPE had a transparent and collaborative approach to the Design & Construct elements of the project. We maintained constant communication with the WBFC Facilities Team and Superintendent, managing our team and subcontractors in a live working environment and scheduling around AFL, VFL and AFLW games and training sessions.

A sustainable initiative for this project was the recycling and donation of all existing furniture to local charities in Footscray – the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Glenroy Neighbourhood House. By donating this furniture and diverting waste from landfill, WBFC and SHAPE recycled 92.1815 tCO2e (57.6 tonnes of furniture).