Arrow International is a project delivery company that partners with clients to plan, manage and build capital works projects, seeing them through varied stages until completion. For them, success looks like a streamlined project management and construction process that meets the brief and budget requirements, whilst delivering high quality results.

It is not always an easy journey to achieve these goals, but international accommodation chain Tune Hotel’s first Melbourne project is a standout. Taking on board Tune’s mantra of ‘low cost but high quality,’ Arrow International specified Interpod’s modular bathrooms to reduce the time and costs spent across the entire project.

A significant amount of time was saved during construction because the pods could be manufactured as onsite work was ongoing. The ease of design and installation of the pods further pushed the fit out stage to an early start, allowing a considerable amount of overhead and P&G costs to be saved.

“Notwithstanding time and cost benefits, having the bathrooms manufactured in a controlled environment has made for far superior control over quality and allowed for regular checks and sign offs, ensuring the delivered product was defect free on installation,” said Matt Hall, Arrow International’s Production Manager.

“Another massive bonus with using Interpod over traditional build is that we had one point of contact for anything that arose, be it design change, site issues or defects. The professional and easy to deal with attitude of all the staff at Interpod is outstanding.”

Arrow International’s Director Ross Saunders agrees, concluding that using the pod bathrooms have made managing the entire construction project a lot easier.

CHALLENGES:

Nearly 300 bathrooms had to be built over eight floors within a tight timeline. However, the compact size of bathrooms meant that trades would have to follow one another in traditional construction, stringing out the program significantly.

SOLUTION:

Using the prefabricated Interpod bathrooms overcame the problem of limited space and time. Trades could begin in parallel, and pods were delivered onsite as a completed unit, allowing for regular checks and sign offs. The modular bathrooms were also easy and quick to install.

RESULTS:

Months were shaved off the overall program, with the team benefitting from about 10% more cost savings as compared to traditional standard bathroom builds. Onsite labour and amenity requirements were significantly reduced, relieving site pressures.