Data centre construction at NEXTDC M3 Melbourne – 800 tonnes of roof steel installed
At NEXTDC M3 Melbourne in West Footscray, we’re closing in on the roof steel package with 800 tonnes of roof steel installed.
Delivering Stage 2 of the Hanwha Defence Australia Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) meant constructing complex, production-critical infrastructure while a live defence facility kept running right beside us.
The completed work expands the 32,000 sqm Avalon facility in Victoria’s Geelong region and establishes a critical manufacturing hub for the Australian Defence Force’s LAND 400 Phase 3 program. It supports production of 129 Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicles, which makes Stage 2 a project of national significance and a direct contribution to Australia’s sovereign defence capability.
Stage 2 commissioned three buildings and a heavy washdown facility. Each one carried its own technical demands, and all of them had to come together without interrupting what Hanwha was already producing on site.
The biggest constraint was the one we couldn’t change. Production Hall 1 had to stay operational the whole way through, so we planned around it rather than against it. Our team adapted to strict defence protocols, issuing methods of procedure and signing on to Hanwha’s permits for work, so every entry into shared or sensitive space was controlled and safe.
That discipline mattered most at the interface between new and existing structures. A lot of our new structural steel tied directly into Production Hall 1, which left no margin for guesswork. Getting access to that space safely, while keeping the facility running at all times, took close and constant coordination with the Hanwha team. It’s the part of the job that doesn’t show up in a render, and it’s the part that decided whether Stage 2 succeeded.
Working to defence requirements also shaped how we managed health and safety in construction across the site, from permitting through to the way trades moved around live operations.
Modelling is central to how we build. Before fabrication, our digital engineering team ran a point cloud scan to capture the existing steel structure, then verified it against the as-built drawings we’d been given. That let us confirm we were 100% accurate about what we were tying into, and understand any clashes before steel arrived rather than discovering them mid-install.
The payoff was simple. Less rework, fewer surprises, and the confidence to deliver in a constrained and highly controlled environment. When the connection points are right the first time, the program keeps moving.
Stage 2 delivered several specialised facilities:
The EMI/EMC chamber was the most technically complex part of the build. To keep the testing valid, the chamber had to sit in a highly secure, climate-controlled environment, so we integrated the structural, mechanical and security requirements through coordinated design and construct delivery. Get the environment wrong and the integrity of the testing goes with it, which is why the controls were locked in at design stage, not retrofitted later.
Around the chamber, the sequencing did the heavy lifting. We coordinated crane installation with structural steel and high-level mechanical services, and worked through numerous slab set-downs, all planned through detailed modelling and early contractor involvement. Bringing that thinking forward meant the hard decisions were made before they reached site.
The planning showed up in the result. Production Hall 2 was handed over around six weeks ahead of schedule, which let Hanwha bring one of its programs forward and move straight into the next phase of work.
The people behind that result were largely local. More than 900 workers contributed to Stage 2, with over 25% of the workforce drawn from the Greater Geelong region. Engaging local trade partners kept capability and investment in the community that hosts the facility, and gave the project a workforce with a stake in getting it right.
“Delivering Stage 2 ahead of schedule on a live defence manufacturing site required absolute discipline in planning, sequencing and decision-making. By challenging standard delivery methods and working closely with Hanwha and Conscia, we were able to maintain momentum through complexity and provide the certainty needed to move straight into fit-out and parallel production,” said Andrew Deveson, Co-Founder and Director at Kapitol.
H-ACE Stage 2 strengthens Australia’s ability to build its own defence vehicles, on home soil, at scale. It also shows what early design coordination, detailed modelling and genuine collaboration can deliver when the work is complex and the site stays live from the first day to the last.
That’s the standard we hold ourselves to on secure, technically demanding projects. Plan earlier, coordinate tighter, and give the client the certainty to keep moving.
