Construction visit #2

This morning we left our cool somewhat air conditioned rooms to head out to a few more sites. The first place we went to was the Melbourne Convention Center. All I can say is WOWW. This place was absolutely incredible in terms of its sheer size and the thought and money that was put into this project that was completed a few years back. This 450 million dollar facility is the first and only "6 Star Green Star" environmentally rated convention center in the world. The building has no centralized air but instead circulates and cools air from the outside so that it almost feels like there is a constant breeze blowing through the building. The entire building in equipped with a centralized computer systems that monitors and controls everything from the doors and the air flow, to the lights that dim and brighten depending on how much sun is being let in through the windows. I literally was walking around with my mouth open just attempting to take in all of the architectural designs and the designs on the environmental side also. It was nearly impossible since there was just too much to take in in the 2 hours we were there. After being dumbfounded by this project on the historic Docklands site in Melbourne, we made our way to the second on not as interesting site. Well, it was just nothing like what we had just left. This second building had just began construction by the same company, L.U. Simon. We toured a few floors of the building (they only had 3 built and most was parking) and got to see a few foundation and slab features which is always interesting. This tour didn't take near as long since we are already back at RMIT village relaxing in the study room and staying out of the heat! Seeing that we have no plans for the rest of the night I imagine I will be staying in or heading out to the pool. It's summer here so who wouldn't!