Last night, BSE celebrated 30 years of engineering excellence. The event was attended by past and present clients, project partners, and team members who gathered to commemorate BSE’s journey—from a two-person operation in 1994 to a business of over 100 people today.
A demonstrated team and project leader, Solomon Aluague brings over 15 years’ experience in ESD principles, design and documentation of mechanical design and engineering to our Sydney team as our Interiors & Refurbishments Lead. Solomon’s project leadership, understanding, knowledge and skills offer clients a passionate problem solver who produces exceptional project outcomes for clients and business partners.
BSE was engaged by Viva Leisure to provide mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and fire protection engineering design services for the new Club Lime Rosebery.
Today marks the grand opening of Five Guys at the Martin Place Metro Station! This 96-seater location is the fifth in Australia. BSE is proud of our continuing collaboration with Seagrass Boutique Hospitality Group, having worked on all five stores.
BSE was engaged by Mont Projects to provide mechanical, electrical, fire protection, and hydraulic engineering design services for the fit-out of GroundUp Studio's first location in NSW, situated in Alexandria.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
We give thanks to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.
Lest We Forget. Anzac Day 2022.
The value and sustainability benefits of building adaptive reuse continues to forge ahead in Brisbane! Latest on our list of successes is 450 Queen Street in the CBD. Taking an unsightly existing commercial building, keeping the primary structure (22,401m2 GFA) and changing out the façade, base building services and internals will bring this building to A-Grade standard with 5 Star Green Star design rating.
Designed by Fender Katsalidis and intentionally capturing elements from the surrounding heritage buildings, this refreshed building is also intended to enhance Queen Street with a podium to give a freshness and openness to the space.
Leveraging the success of our partnership with InDeMa Properties and Fender Katsalidis with Midtown Centre, BSE is thrilled to be providing the full range of services design and acoustics and sustainability for 450 Queen Street. Our approach brings a key focus on innovation and integration while delivering cost effective solutions that provide future tenants with exceptional and usable spaces.
Currently undergoing WiredScore certification, 450 Queen Street will be only the second building in Brisbane to be fully digital, harnessing the power of digital connectedness to provide future tenants and users of the building with best-in-class technology asset for owners and tenants, making the building better connected, enabling collaboration and innovation into the future. John Smithers, BSE’s Senior ICT Engineer, Buildings Team Manager and WiredScore Accredited Professional summarised this incredible design with this comment:
““Beauty, function, and future proof – what more can you possibly need from a building?””
Over 7 million people now live and work in WiredScore certified buildings across 24 countries. The WiredScore certified buildings are be benchmarked against local, domestic and international buildings giving owners and tenants an indicative comparison of the building’s level of digital connectivity. This transparency allows informed decision making and fit for purpose use. For owners, the WiredScore certification acts as a valuable tool to communicate the building’s digital infrastructure to clients and potential clients, while tenants receive the peace of mind that the building goes above and beyond to meet their connectivity needs.
Latest media coverage of this project (before name change to 450 Queen Street) offers greater insights, have a look at the Brisbane Developer Story, where they provide a clever interactive before and after tool:
https://brisbanedevelopment.com/major-refurbishment-proposed-for-444-queen-street/
http://www.yourneighbourhood.com.au/commercial-tower-refurbishment-queen-street-brisbane-city/
https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/public-trustee-abacus-to-offload-brisbane-office-tower
BSE’s Hot Cross Bun-athon
After a mammoth four months of 2022, our teams are well and truly ready for a long weekend to spend time with family, recharge and celebrate Easter.
To kick off the long weekend, our teams enjoyed various Easter themed celebrations, enjoying festive chocolate and hot cross buns.
BSE hope our team, project partners and industry colleagues all appreciate an enjoyable few days off.
Happy Easter!
Hiring now!
Join the BSE Community in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, or Adelaide.
BSE’s growth continues in 2022, with Senior Engineer vacancies in each of our offices indicative of the exceptional project pipeline.
Take the opportunity to join one of Australia’s most respected and innovative engineering consultancies, committed to quality design, true partnership with our clients, and the powerful community we’re creating.
Full details including how to apply, are listed on our Careers page here: https://www.bse.com.au/careers
For a confidential discussion, reach out to Jessica Chesser on 02 9922 5200.
Godfrey Frederick
Director - National Strategic Partnerships
And that is a wrap!
BSE’s Director - National Strategic Partnerships, Godfrey Frederick, shares his experience at the 2022 Property Congress.
Thank you Hobart for the memories, there were many of them! From hob knobbing at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) shopping at Salamanca Market, and an enlightening and sombre experience at Port Arthur, our BSE team were exposed to a raft of adventures and emotions before The Property Congress 2022 event even began.
So many highs! Embracing the space and beauty of Tasmania, relishing the novelty of Tassie’s isolation and uniqueness and so many opportunities to catchup with old and new industry friends. BSE were thrilled to host guests – clients and project partners – for a gorgeous river cruise on historic ML Egeria. Congress provided hospitality by The Property Council of Australia and multiple exclusive dining events which added the spice (see what I did there!!) to the Congress experience. It goes without saying that our team were blown away by the excellent speakers who generously gave insights into property and leadership. Hearing from Dylan Alcott AO and John Howard OM AC was undoubtedly a highlight for TeamBSE.
Looking back, the Hobart Congress was filled to the brim with highlights. Our top two… riding around Hobart on electric-scooters at night, and of course an impromptu meeting and chat with John Howard OM AC. These opportunities paired with the plethora of other laughs, experiences, and intriguing chats, formed the basis of an awesome time in Tasmania.
We came, we saw, we did “a little” shopping and can’t wait for the 2023 PCA Congress. A huge thanks goes to all the PCA team who put on a wonderful few days for the sector.
L-R: Cameron Webb, Amanda Webb, Andrew Fraser, Nicki Fraser and Godfrey Frederick
BSE were thrilled to be hosting some of our closest industry and project partners for an afternoon on the gorgeous River Derwent, during the recent 2022 The Property Congress in Hobart.
After a rainy morning, we were overjoyed to see the sun poke it’s head out for a stunning, albeit chilly, afternoon on the water. As the boat, crew and our guests departed from Franklin Wharf Pier, the drinks started flowing freely and our guests enjoyed the stunning Hobart coastline, as they discussed what they looked forward to at this year’s congress, what speakers they’re anxious to hear from and what industry acquaintances they’re excited to reconnect with after two years which lacked significant meaningful connection.
CEO, Andrew Fraser, commented that
“‘It was a wonderful afternoon, we had all really missed the opportunity to spend some relaxed, social time with our industry partners. It was the perfect way for us to really kick off the Property Congress event.’”
Thank you to all our guests who joined us for the afternoon.
Sunday 3rd April: Change your smoke alarm.
It’s simple: change your clocks from daylight savings time, change your smoke alarm battery.
Fire protection is a BSE service offering, providing high level design and expertise. However, it’s incredibly important that we all take responsibility for the fire alarms in our homes and change the batteries on a yearly basis. Studies have shown that smoke is often not enough to wake a sleeping person up, meaning when they do wake up – it can often be too late, putting them and their loved ones in danger.
As we evolve further into incorporating more and more technology into our spaces, we come across further risk of fires from laptops, smart phones or even overloaded power boards.
NSW Fire & Rescue recommends the following as a guide to smoke alarm maintenance:
Once a month: test smoke alarm batteries by pressing and holding the test button for at least five seconds until you hear the beeps
Every 6 months: vacuum dust off your smoke alarm. Keeping your smoke alarm free of particles helps reduce false alarms and ensures smoke can easily reach the internal sensor
Every year: (this Sunday, preferably!) replace lead or alkaline batteries!
Every 10 years: replace all smoke alarms, or earlier if specified by the manufacturer
Put a reminder on your phone for Sunday 3rd April and change your smoke alarm batteries!
Source and for more info, visit: NSW Fire & Rescue, Smoke Alarm Maintenance Guide
Whilst on a recent trip to Adelaide, BSE’s Director – National Strategic Partnerships Godfrey Frederick dropped in on one of our projects nearing completion with our SA State Manager, Orlando Cavuoto.
Westpac House, located at 91 King William Street is a premium grade commercial building undergoing a makeover in the ground floor lobby area creating a new food and beverage tenancy which required Front of House Bar, Service and seating areas with a Back of house preparation area. The F&B offering is to be known as Vault 91.
BSE partnered with Knight Frank, Studio Nine Architects and FDC Construction & Fitout across this project, we are so pleased to have provided design, engineering and documentation across mechanical, electrical, hydraulics and fire protection services, while working with the project team to identify technical design based solutions
Godfrey enjoyed the opportunity to head to site and have a look around this stunning upgrade, he especially looks forward to enjoying the hospitality of Vault 91 on his next Adelaide visit!
Credit due to Orlando Cavuoto and the BSE Adelaide team
The world has been a pretty heavy place lately and our teams are embracing snippets of escapism wherever they can. One of our favourite, admittedly lower-brow but equally as drama-filled, forms of escapism has proven to be a little show by the name of Married at First Sight (MAFS). Yes, we know this content is a little left of field but hear us out.
Anyone who is up to date on the absolute glittery mess of a show we’re watching unfold Sunday-Wednesday of each week, would know that we’re coming to the end of the season. The end of the contestants’ quest of figuring out if they’ve found ‘the one’, whilst living in luxury at the gorgeous ‘Skye Suites’.
For BSE and our teams, it isn’t often that we’re involved in a project that airs nationally on our televisions each week. Our teams design spaces with the intent to bring them to life, it’s very rare to be given an opportunity to watch life bloom in those spaces. It’s a unique opportunity that our teams have been given as they watched (with bated breath) these drama filled lives unfold in Skye Suits.
BSE have been involved in a variety of residential builds; townhouses through to multi-storey resi and huge apartment towers. Crown International Holding Group have been a long-term partner of BSE and we have delivered various projects together, including Arc by Crown which Skye Suites forms part of. BSE were engaged as the services consultants for the delivery of this Iconic, modern sculptural addition to Sydney’s skyline, conveniently located in the Sydney CBD. The two, 29-storey, high-rise residential and hotel towers stand at 88m tall, encompassing 221 apartments all complete with state-of-the-art services. The development features amenities such as a spa, gym, and reflection pool and rooftop courtyard on the penthouse level. BSE delivered all mechanical, electrical, lifts and fire design services. The designs facilitated the inclusion of a new triplex substation.
Whilst this project was completed in 2018, it has undoubtedly stood the test of time and still holds it’s place as an incredibly modern, well sought after residential space. While we may not miss the intense drama, narcissism and even (MAFS hype word alert) gaslighting that MAFS throws on our screens each night, we’ll certainly miss seeing these gorgeous living spaces.
After a long 2 years, the PCA Property Congress is back, and BSE will once again be in attendance. Our attendees enjoying the spoils of Hobart will be Andrew Fraser (CEO), Cameron Webb (Director) and Godfrey Frederick (Director – National Strategic Partnerships).
The BSE team are looking forward to connecting with all of the attendees and participate in the thought leadership, networking opportunities and hearing from the exciting line up speakers at the many sessions over Congress.
If you are there, come and say hi!
Godfrey Frederick was thrilled at the opportunity to take part in the Property Industry Foundation’s 2022 Regatta. After a week of dreadful weather, the sun poked it’s head out and Godfrey, alongside industry colleagues enjoyed a relaxed afternoon as they soaked in the beauty of Sydney Harbour.
With his sailing gloves on, Godfrey was at the helm, cruising onboard ‘Dancing with the Wind’, involvement with the Regatta is another way BSE engages with our charity partners and support the PIF House Program, to build homes for homeless youth! Godfrey reflects on the day,
“ “What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon. The weather behaved, the sailing was fantastic and I didn’t fall in! Second most important thing was that it was so nice to see so many industry friends, some that I hadn’t seen for two years! Most importantly though was that it was all for a very worthy cause.” ”
BSE is a passionate corporate donor of the Property Industry Foundation and the PIF Regatta is one of our favourite fundraising events on the year. The Property Industry Foundation work to build safe environments and create a better life for hundreds of young Aussies doing it tough. Youth homelessness is hugely prevalent and affects 44,000 young Australians, with 1 in 3 young people being turned away from accommodation each night.
For more information on how you can get involved: https://pif.com.au/
Happy International Women’s Day.
At BSE, we strive to create a balanced, equal and fair work place. A place that acts as a safe space for women and men alike. A place where every voice is heard, big or small. Where every opinion is observed, considered.
However, despite these attempts to create a balanced workplace, there’s always potential to grow, always space to expand. So, on this International Women’s Day, we work to #BreaktheBias. We work to lean into a ‘gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias’. - International Women’s Day
As a small gesture to the various strong, powerful women of BSE, a lunch and empowerment presentation by Trudy MacDonald was organised. She talked our teams through the many walls and challenges that she has come up against, we discussed various different approaches to handle those situations and talked about the sort of future we envision and the steps we can collectively take to #BreakTheBias.
Last week, our Sydney team took the opportunity to celebrate with Wade Prendergast on his 10-year anniversary at BSE. Wade is an integral part of the BSE community and an exceptionally talented engineer and team leader.
Wade has been with BSE since 2012, in that time the company has seen significant growth, evolution and change, and we couldn’t be happier to have had an absolute powerhouse member of the BSE community like Wade to have been there every step of the way.
Andrew Fraser, CEO, took the opportunity to express his personal appreciation for the enthusiasm, commitment and time Wade has put into BSE. He commented that:
““Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen Wade grow in his professional life and in his personal life, and I couldn’t be prouder of the engineer, team leader, team player and friend that Wade has proven himself to be”.”
Building Services Engineers, BSE. Key word: engineers.
Today marks the Global Day of the Engineer.
Nationally, BSE’s teams are filled to the brim with an abundance of talent & expertise across all facets of the business, but our business is engineering. Our engineers are the absolute powerhouse of our business, our client offering, our true partnership commitment and project delivery.
Our engineers are fun, diligent, witty, creative, explorative, innovative, and incredibly committed. Committed to their job, your projects, and our team.
We couldn’t be more thankful for the hours of hard work and dedication our teams put in, so in a small but tasty gesture of thanks, we shared some sweet treats to recognise the day and our engineer’s efforts.
OUT & ABOUT | Our Director - National Strategic Partnerships, Godfrey Frederick is relishing the opportunity to be travelling to our various offices again.
This week, he and ACT Director, Brendon Newham attended the Property Council of Australia’s ACT Residential & Planning Outlook lunch.
The two shared the common sentiment of how great it is for borders to be open and events like this back in full swing.
The residential market is absolutely booming in the ACT and our teams are well across it, Godfrey and Brendon enjoyed an opportunity to hear from residential specialists Nerida Connisbee (Ray White) and Tim Lawless (Corelogic) to deepen their knowledge of what the residential landscape will look like in the coming months/years, while also enjoying a lunch with some of our industry and project partners
As so many of TeamBSE are big fans of meat and wine, it’s safe to say we were thrilled to be engaged across multiple Meat & Wine Co projects nationally. The enjoyment of working on hospitality projects grows, as the uniqueness of Meat & Wine Co restaurants make them incredibly interesting to be involved with.
Meat & Wine Co, Adelaide
BSE partnered with Seagrass Hospitality and Design Partnerships Australia to design and deliver the Canberra and Adelaide restaurants, both completed in 2021. Meat & Wine Co distinguish themselves as having a consistent theme across all of their establishments and maintaining an homage to African symbolism as a deeply rooted theme. This meant, our engineering and design team had a variety of design considerations to ensure the restaurants were able to maintain the aesthetic consistency while being functional, our solutions included an integrated fit out approach, kitchen exhaust/makeup and trade waste design.
A huge consideration across BSE’s involvement with the Adelaide restaurant is that the building housing the restaurant is heritage listed. Developing a design within a heritage listed building creates a number of challenges, including input and exhaust louvres on the façade however, our skilled teams provided solutions based on extensive hospitality experience to minimise impact of services on the look and feel of the restaurant.
An opposite approach was needed with the design of the Canberra restaurant at 1 Constitution Place. the restaurant is nestled at the base of a new development within the CBD. BSE was able to meet the design intent to maintain a consistent approach across the lighting styles and design maintain the overall ‘theme’ of Meat & Wine Co’s various restaurants, despite the significantly differing exteriors.
Meat & Wine Co, Canberra
BSE continues our Meat & Wine Co. partnership delivering an additional two projects at Norwest NSW and Southbank VIC. Our teams benefit from the lessons learnt and innovative solutions already used in Adelaide and Canberra to implement those benefits across the new restaurants.
BSE’s Sydney & National Team
Off the back of a mammoth year, BSE’s state-based teams all celebrated the end of a trying but incredibly successful year.
BSE’s Sydney-based head office celebrated in style with games, food, music, drinks and laughs at a garden party, kindly hosted by Andrew & Nicki Fraser.
BSE’s Brisbane Team
BSE’s Brisbane team had an afternoon and evening out on the town - eating, drinking, dancing and celebrating a hugely successful year.
The Melbourne team enjoyed some wonderful Mexican food, gulped down a spicy margarita or two and partied the night away!
BSE’s Melbourne Team
BSE’s Canberra Team
The Canberra team enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local favourite with their partners, laughing and sharing stories.
And, the Adelaide team enjoyed a delightful Saturday afternoon with great food, great drinks and great company, celebrating the growth of their team and a successful year.
BSE’s Adelaide Team
The BSE community are all pivotal to such a cohesive, positive work environment. We’ve loved celebrating together, and now we’ve enjoyed looking back and reminiscing on those celebrations (without a sore head the next morning!).
Our CEO, Andrew Fraser, shares his end of year reflection:
“Never has the support of our team members, our clients and our project partners been as essential to BSE as they have been this year. I couldn’t be more grateful for the various pillars of support around and within the BSE Community. ”
Andrew with BSE’s fluffiest team members, Lou & Gert
We entered 2021 with optimism for what it would hold. While BSE have had a monumental year of growth – both within our teams but also within the various projects and project partners BSE have worked across and with, it has also been an unpredictably challenging year across all platforms.
Despite this, the BSE Community – with the help of our highly valued project partners and clients, have banded together and powered through one of the more challenging years we’ve encountered.
BSE are currently working across some of our largest projects ever, our teams have grown like never before, and expanded to include significant strength across all disciplines. We’ve also had a lot of fun along the way.
Our incredible teams have continued to deliver outstanding project results whilst adapting to the continually changing ‘norm’.
It has been a challenging year for all of us and I am incredibly proud of how our teams, leaders and Directors have adapted, innovated and adjusted to keep BSE steady and stable which has enabled us to meet all of our commitments.
I wish our clients and project partners a happy Christmas and a safe and hopeful New Year, and extend another warm thank you to our Teams who have gone above & beyond to deliver exceptional work.
Andrew, Nicki, Chris & Amelia (back), and David, Jessica & Godfrey (front) enjoying the NSW PCA Lunch with some of our project partners.
The BSE teams have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to attend the New South Wales, Victorian & South Australian Property Council of Australia Christmas lunches over the past couple of weeks.
After a year which has presented so many highs and lows, we’ve relished the opportunity for borders to have reopened and our team members to be free to travel interstate once again, connecting with our property partners within the industry and
the teammates we’ve missed so much!
Orlando, Jessica, Nicki and Andrew enjoying the SA PCA Lunch
Nithin & Godfrey (back) and Terrence & Amelia (front) enjoying the VIC PCA Lunch, with some of our valued project partners.
Since we last highlighted our new starters, TeamBSE have welcomed even more incredible new people in all our offices this year, bringing exceptional technical experience, innovative ideas, and a whole lot of laughs.
BSE is made up of talented, professional, creative, and passionate people, who work hard and have some fun along the way.
Our promise to our team is building for growth, innovation, engineering excellence and BSE fun!
If you’re interested in joining TeamBSE, we share all our open roles on our Careers page or pop your CV through to careers@bse.com.au if your expertise aligns!
