Meet Jack – He Loves His Job

November 27, 2019

In celebration of being awarded the 10th Best Place to Work in Australia by Great Place to Work, RCC has interviewed 10 employees who love their job. We’re honoured to have such passionate employees who jumped at the opportunity to share what they do, and why they love it.

Meet Jack Reggers. Jack joined RCC in his final years of his engineering degree. Starting in a Graduate role that allowed him to study and gain practical experience in the industry, Jack is now a Site Engineer on our Opera Residences project, delivering one of Sydney’s most exclusive future residential developments.

“I love my job and I love what I do, but I think 90% of that is because I come to work with brilliant people every day.”

“At RCC, you actually feel like someone. From the Project Manager right through to the cadets, you can feel that everyone truly values each other and the company we work for.”

With a family of more than 700 employees, we are committed to ensuring our teams feel familiar and well connected. On a site with over 100 individuals, Jack says the RCC team’s culture and mateship creates an environment which keeps them on track; delivering high quality projects whilst genuinely enjoying the process along the way.

“We have meetings with our clients, subcontractors, consultants and architects and everybody sits in the same room to listen and collaborate. Everyone is talking and working together to get the job done.”

“It’s one collaborative project team pushing in the right direction.”

Jack loves his job for its challenges, and for the colleagues he says have become his family. Nominated the 10th Best Place to Work in our category in Australia, we’re thrilled to employ passionate people that genuinely enjoy what they do and provide them with a supportive environment and positive company culture to thrive in.

More About the 10th Best Place to Work

The Great Place to Work assessment is a feedback-based study obtained from a confidential survey of our 700+ employees. It involves an independent audit across areas like hiring and integration, health and wellness, as well as workplace culture.

2018 was the first year RCC entered the assessment and we were thrilled to be awarded 17th Best Place to Work. Within a year, we rolled out a number of new initiatives to better the experiences of our people. To be recognised as the 10th Best Place to Work this year is a credit to our continued commitment to ensuring that everyone at RCC genuinely looks forward to coming to work each day.

More About the RCC Family

If Jack’s story has left you wanting to hear more about what its like to be part of the RCC family then watch this space – we are planning another 9 employee interviews over the next 9 months.

In the meantime, check out this video to hear from other members of our team.

 

More About the Opera Residences

This project includes the construction of 104 high end apartments over 19 levels, three levels of retail space and 6 levels of basement parking within the busy Bennelong Point precinct. Public domain works involve a stairway from Circular Quay to Macquarie Street and a general upgrade to the Circular Quay Public Domain.

 

 

 

MBA Excellence In Construction Awards

November 12, 2019

RCC would like to congratulate our project teams and subcontractor, consultant and supply partners involved in delivering the Regiment student accommodation project at the University of Sydney campus in Darlington and the Shortland Correctional Centre in Cessnock.

These collective teams who worked on these projects received an award last weekend at the NSW ‘Excellence in Construction’ Awards gala event.

Regiment Student Accommodation
University of Sydney
NSW MBA Award Category:
Student Accommodation Buildings up to $100m		 Shortland Correctional Centre
Justice Infrastructure
NSW MBA Award Category:
Public Buildings over $50m

 

For us, success is about completing a development that RCC, our clients and our project partners can all be proud of. Congratulations to everyone who played a part in the design and delivery of these award-winning projects.

 

 

Sydney Modern Project Ground Breaking

November 8, 2019

The first sod has been turned on the site the Art Gallery of New South Wales expansion, the Sydney Modern Project, marking the commencement of this future landmark development.

RCC’s Managing Director, Jamie Crookes said he was honoured to take part in the ground breaking ceremony this week;

“As a family owned Australian construction company, Richard Crookes Constructions is incredibly proud to have been selected to deliver the Sydney Modern Project. We recognise the significant contribution that the Art Gallery of NSW and the arts community make to both the Sydney and broader Australian cultural landscape.
We are honoured, as their construction partner, to play a role in realising the vision for this expansion project and to deliver what will undoubtedly be a landmark building for Sydney and a major cultural destination in the wider Asia-Pacific region”
Jamie Crookes – Managing Director

 

RCC will continue to partner with the Art Gallery of NSW and Infrastructure NSW, as well as a team of subcontractors and consultants to deliver the major expansion.

We have a proud history of collaborating with the NSW Government to deliver important social infrastructure projects and we look forward to working with INSW, the AGNSW, the Royal Botanic Garden, neighbours and the local community on this exciting and iconic project.

 

More about the Sydney Modern Project

The completed expansion involves a new stand-alone building, located to the north of the existing Gallery, and includes new exhibition spaces, a public art garden and the adaptive re-use of two decommissioned WWII oil tanks.

The Sydney Modern Project is scheduled for completion in 2022.

For more information about the project visit artgallery.nsw.gov.au

 


Pictured from left to right: Ben Quilty, Artist Member, Art Gallery of NSW Board of Trustees; Gretel Packer, Vice President, Art Gallery of NSW Board of Trustees; Mark Nelson, Chair, Sydney Modern Project Capital Campaign Committee, Art Gallery of NSW; Ryue Nishizawa, Architect, SANAA; Kazuyo Sejima, Architect, SANAA; Dr Michael Brand, Director, Art Gallery of NSW; The Hon. Don Harwin, MLC, Minister for the Arts; The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian, MP, Premier of New South Wales; David Gonski AC, President, Art Gallery of NSW Board of Trustees; Maud Page, Deputy Director and Director of Collections, Art Gallery of NSW; Isaac Wakil AO, Chair, Susan & Isaac Wakil Foundation; Sally Webster, Head of Sydney Modern Project, Art Gallery of NSW; Uncle Charles (Chicka) Madden, Gadigal Elder and Member of the Art Gallery of NSW Indigenous Advisory Group; Simon Draper, Chief Executive, Infrastructure NSW and Jamie Crookes, Managing Director, Richard Crookes Constructions.

 

 

Oran Park’s First Commercial Topping Out

October 31, 2019

Project milestone celebrations are always special, but the recent Topping Out Ceremony at Oran Park celebrated the towns first standalone commercial building and raised funds for a worthy cause.

To mark the completion of the structure on the future TRN House building, Greenfields Development Company, TRN Group and the wider project team joined RCC to see the ceremonial tree craned onto the roof slab.

Our Project Manager, Michael said that being able to share the day with wife and daughter was a hallmark of the collaborative environment and culture on the project;

“Greenfields Development Company share RCC’s family values and it’s rewarding to be working with them, the entire consultant and subcontractor team and the local community so collaboratively”.
Michael Ryan

Mark Perich of Greenfields Development Company in Oran Park Town said, “Once complete, TRN House will be the first A-Grade equivalent standalone commercial space offered for sale or lease in Oran Park Town”.

TRN House will stand alongside the existing Oran Park Podium retail and commercial precinct and will be the latest addition to Oran Park Town’s growing commercial hub.

The event was also an opportunity to promote Pink Up Oran Park, a breast cancer awareness and fundraising campaign supporting the McGrath Foundation, which has seen several sites across Oran Park Town turning a shade of pink during the month of October.

 

 

Experience for Constructions’ Next Generation

October 24, 2019

Our Snackbrands project at Orchard Hills hosted over 180 students from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) last month, offering them an immersive tour of the site, as well as a series of presentations from our site team.

“I just wanted to pass on a big thank you for coordinating such a great site visit for the students last week. The feedback was amazing. One student was so impressed he’s sent a thank you note of his own with his CV!

The diligence displayed by the RCC team, ensuring every student was signed in and inducted, coordinating manageable and safe group sizes and then escorting each group around the site speaks volumes about RCC’s unwavering commitment to site safety and planning”

Craig Barry – UTS Lecturer

These Construction Management and Civil Engineering students represent the future of our industry; we are proud to be involved in their transition from classroom to construction site and give them a firsthand insight into safe and sustainable construction practice.

 

 

RCC’s Second Tower Crane in Circular Quay

July 25, 2019

Opera Residences Project Reaches a Milestone

The Opera Residences team are celebrating a major milestone with the erection of the project’s tower crane.

Following 6 months of bulk and detailed excavation down to 18 metres below sea level and the commencement of sub-structure works, the team erected RCC’s 2nd tower crane in the Circular Quay skyline.

Our name is also up in lights on the nearby Loftus Lane project, part of AMP capital’s exciting Quay Quarter development.

The Opera Residences 400tn mobile crane has been set up no less than 30 metres from the iconic Sydney Harbour, making an exciting sight for Circular Quay onlookers. Its initial free-standing height of 43 metres, making it easily visible from around the quay as well as from the Cahill Expressway.

The crane driver on the Opera Residences project will have the best seat in the house with these views of Sydney Harbour!

 

More on the Opera Residences Project

This exciting residential and mixed-use development for Macrolink and Landream Australia will be a vibrant addition to the popular Bennelong Point precinct in Circular Quay.

The $140m design and construction project involves 104 high end apartments over 19 levels, three levels of retail space which include restaurants, swimming pool and gym and 6 levels of basement car parking. Public domain works include a through-site link (public stairway) from Circular Quay to Macquarie Street and a general upgrade to the Circular Quay Public Domain immediately west of the site incorporating the new Arc Café.

 

 

Wollongong Juniors Name Our Crane

November 22, 2018

We appreciate feedback on our delivery; but it also means a lot when our clients acknowledge RCC’s commitment to making a positive community contribution and giving back on every project…

“We much appreciate the effort that RCC has put into the ‘softer’ side of project delivery; this highlights the character and values of your company”
Blake Preston – Senior Manager Project Delivery
University of Wollongong

RCC is currently on site at the University of Wollongong (UoW) delivering Molecular Horizons. We are excited to be delivering this important education and research facility and we’re committed to being part of the campus community during our time on site. In recognition of the valuable work of the Early Start Discovery Space and Kids Uni organisations who are situated on the UoW campus, RCC has run a Name the Crane initiative to engage the children in this exiting construction project.

Name the Crane

RCC started the campaign by introducing students, teachers and parents to the Molecular Horizons projects, construction and the purpose of the crane on site! The children all enjoyed the video of the crane being erected and making cardboard cranes with our site staff! The kids were asked to choose a name for the crane and submit a drawing and we were overwhelmed with how impressive the entries were!

The crane is now called Orion, which highlights both the talent and compassion of this cohort who chose the name in honour of their classmate of the same name who was recently injured! Orion is also a prominent constellation which is an apt name for our very tall crane!

To celebrate the success of the initiative and present the Early Start Discovery Space and Kids Uni with gifts to be enjoyed by students and their families we held a Name the Crane BBQ. Our site team thoroughly enjoyed cooking a BBQ and introducing the children to our excavator!

For RCC, each project we deliver is about more than a quality facility for our clients; it’s about enjoying the journey with our entire client, consultant and subcontractor team and engaging with the local community to generate positive outcomes for all stakeholders and give back!

 

University of Wollongong Molecular Horizons Project

RCC will be responsible for the design finalisation and construction of Molecular Horizons at the University of Wollongong, Wollongong campus.

This development involves site excavation and establishment works as well as the construction of a 5-storey educational facility up to for 15 researches. The facility will contain:

  • office and administration areas
  • meeting and conference rooms
  • research and chemistry laboratories
  • animal house
  • astronomy and chemistry roof platform
  • pedestrian bridge between Molecular Horizons and the adjoining IHMRI (building 32)
  • reconfiguration of the eastern portion of P7 car park to accommodate 13 accessible spaces
  • associated landscaping and public domain works including learning and gathering spaces and gardens
  • building identification signage

 

RCC talks ‘Growing Our Regions Well’

November 21, 2018

RCC was proud to sponsor and participate in the recent Property Council of Australia (PCA)’s ‘Growing Our Regions Well’ event. We were honoured to discuss the vision for the Hunter and Central Coast regions with representatives from across a range of disciplines who will, together, contribute to the growth and prosperity of the area.

Giving back to our industry and the communities we live and work in is important to RCC; As a 100% Australian owned, family business we take great pride in knowing that every project we deliver provides the social infrastructure required for our local communities to thrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topping Out at UTS

November 20, 2018

As the ceremonial tree was craned onto the roof of the UTS Central project, RCC, UTS and our consultant team acknowledged the collaborative approach responsible for reaching this milestone.

Joined by FJMT and Lacoste & Stevenson, we took the opportunity to soak up the sunshine and appreciate the contribution this landmark development will make to UTS staff and students and the broader Sydney community.

What better way to celebrate this landmark education project than to talk statistics…

UTS Central Project Fun Facts

  • 19 Staircases (1,648 steps)
  • 1,100 glass windows
  • 20,000m3 of concrete
  • 861m of steel beams

With an average of 380 workers on site each day for the last 159 weeks, the current progress represents the hard work of many individuals, operating as a team to deliver this impressive new home for UTS staff and students.

Well done to the entire RCC, subcontractor and consultant team who have worked incredibly hard to complete the structure on this complex development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to know more about the UTS Central project?

The UTS Central Project includes the redevelopment of Building 2 and the extension of Building 1 (UTS Tower) to redefine the main campus entrance. The development represents a significant component of the broader UTS Master Plan and will create additional connections within the campus and further enhance the student experience, supporting UTS’s long-term strategic plan of growth in research and positively contributing to the urban quality of the precinct.

 

 

Community Feedback on RCC Safety & Values

October 8, 2018

At RCC, the safety of staff and the community is our highest priority. It is embedded in our culture and our behaviours. We are extremely proud to have received community feedback acknowledging our commitment to safety and company values.…

“We live opposite UTS and every day we watch the work that you guys are doing building on the new UTS building on Broadway. Working for many years in an organisation where the safety goal was zero, safety was drilled into me! Watching your site, the evidence is there that you value safety through the way the building materials are organised and how the workers move around. We moved into the area just before demolition began so we have been with you guys from the start!

 

We googled you today and we both watched your corporate video to find out about who you are, and we agree that RCC is walking your talk and living your values! We got to thinking there is no point in simply saying that to each other and that we should tell you too…so thus am sending this email to say well done for all the good work; we see the Crookes family values are shining through. All the best for the rest of the build”

Eimer & Michael

 

Want to know more about RCC and our Values?

Want to know what it’s like to be part of the RCC family? Find out from our best assets, our people…

 

RCC Values

Operational throughout NSW and the ACT, RCC is a private, family owned construction company that has been delivering projects as promised; on-time and budget, safely and to the highest quality since 1976.

We value our heritage as a family business and we’re proud of our family values. Launched in early 2014, our values were the result of a companywide survey undertaken by our personnel to determine what we believed to be the most important attributes of our company and our people. RCC takes pride in these values; they reflect the culture, character and the vision of our company and help guide our individual and collective behaviours.

To find out more about our company values and who we are check out our website: richardcrookes.com.au

 

More on the UTS Central Building 2 Project

The UTS Central Project includes the redevelopment of Building 2 and the extension of Building 1 (UTS Tower) podium to redefine the main entrance to UTS. This unique project will likely become a landmark building and offer students an urban precinct which will include new teaching spaces, a library, learning commons, research space and a retail area.
This development is a significant component of the broader UTS City Campus Master Plan and will create additional connections within the campus and further enhance the student experience.

Key Features include:

  • Twisting Cantilevered Tower
  • Green Roof Space and winter gardens
  • Super Lab
  • Double Helix Access Stairs
  • Numerous Atriums and Void Spaces
  • Curved Double Glazed Façade

This development is being delivered in a live environment in the middle of an operational University Campus and within a busy retail, residential and transport hub within Ultimo.