Journal Leicester

Stakeholder collaboration is key:

Developer Citiplan Property contracted Melbourne-based construction company Icon to build Uni Place, with Icon engaging Interpod to produce, deliver and install the 782 required bathrooms (featuring four different designs in total) for the project. Due to the stylish, upmarket nature of the Uni Place project, Icon and its architect partner (Metier3) challenged Interpod to deliver 760 prefabricated modular bathrooms featuring a curved wall.

Design challenges solved with intellect:

Citiplan’s brief was to deliver an industry first curved wall design to meet the modern, stylish and sophisticated nature of the Uni Place project.
Curved walls had never been attempted in prefabricated modular bathrooms in Australia, and delivering this aspect of the design required Interpod’s engineers and R&D department to think outside the box.

To deliver the curved wall, and maintain the bathroom’s structural ingerity, Interpod utilized Astron Designer Panel, a building product exclusively available through Interpod. Astron Designer Panel also offers an aesthetically appealing edge as it eliminates the need for tiles and grout while being impervious to water and requiring minimal maintenance. The client was very pleased with the white ripple finish they had chosen to be a feature of the curved wall panel.

The curved wall design challenged the standard ‘Quick Lift’ system used on Interpod bathrooms, however a custom solution was created to overcome this, and the pods were able to be crane lifted from the truck to the building quickly and efficiently.

A successful end result sings praises of all supporting parties:

Interpod’s modular bathrooms were built ahead of schedule – at a rate of eight bathrooms a day at the height of production. The $90 million project was completed in 15 months and handed over in November 2018.

Through innovation, Interpod delivered on the specific design requirements for Icon and made a significant contribution to Citiplan Property’s Uni Place project. Interpod has since had further requests for curved wall designs in prefabricated modular bathrooms.