As
a rule of thumb, fucking things up is to be expected from a
construction company. If you’ve ever used your own hands to do a
DIY job you’ll know that building anything is a disaster waiting to
happen. Fingers get jammed, hammers hit thumbs, and look, Bob the
Builder's catchphrase was “CAN WE FIX IT?” not “CAN WE GET IT
RIGHT ON THE FIRST TRY?” Righhhhhhhhht?
Now,
just because a stray Lend Lease crane brought shame to our UTS house
doesn't mean we want one of the world's building giants to stop its
Atlas work post-haste. We're not demanding our own pound of rubble.
We don't want one of Australia's largest companies to hit the wall,
and it won't (SO DON'T SUE US!). After all they have some stunning
architectural revelations in their portfolio, including the Sydney
Opera House, the Anzac Bridge and the Ground Zero Memorial in NYC.
But they do seem dogged by controversial cock ups. And they're behind
most of the construction on campus. So let’s have a look at some
other things Lend Lease may have screwed up— for amusement’s
sake.
The
Other Crane
Hurricane
Sandy. New York City. This transatlantic crane incident made news
headlines in an odd precursor to the UTS incident. Buckling under
torrential winds and pounded by the rains of the super storm, the
weakened construction crane simply slumped over beside the luxury
apartment it was working on, and ended up dangling 90 storeys above
the ground. Two mega rich dentists then went and sued Lend Lease's
arse (I guess because you can't sue a hurricane) for negligence and
the damage the crane caused to their practice's reputation. Now, UTS,
don't start getting crazy ideas about scrounging around in our
'coffers' for litigation money...
Victorian
Government Relations
Lend
Lease totally fucked it up with the cool kids in Melbourne by giving
the government's good graces the flick and hanging with its
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Engineering Union (CFMEU) union
buddies instead. Victorian Premier, Ted Bailleu, tried to ban the
group from receiving government work for the next four years for
signing a contract with the union that breached new code regulations.
*
(breaches included flying union flags on machinery, restrictions on
outside labour, dictating minimum pay rates)
Had they not been kicked out of the club, they would have probably
gone on to host the $630 million party of renovating Bendigo
Hospital.
Predictable
Fuck-Ups in the Pipeline
In
2009, Lend Lease won the highly prized government contract for the
construction of Barangaroo South (worth $6 billion), and then in
2012, the Darling Harbour’s Sydney Convention, Exhibition and
Entertainment Precinct contract worth $1 billion. They now have
roughly half of the CBD's significant development in its hands. Rival
developers have darkly muttered about this dominance and Lend Lease's
controversial proposal to return the Barangaroo waterfront to the
public. The original development plans exceeded the area's building
height restrictions and were criticised by sustainability and design
experts for being too 'fuggers'. Lend Lease then also teamed up with
James Packer to put a casino resort on Barangaroo land…come on
guys, you’re just adding fuel to the fire here!
Then
there’s the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building aka Frank Gehry’s
Paperbag. Like all landmark buildings that aren't designed in the
classical Greek style, people tend to slap on the 'fugly', 'decrepit'
or 'aftermath of an earthquake' tag without really examining the
beauty of a building that resembles a crumpled paper bag . Some
people have called it fluid and undulating, i.e. it already looks
like it's collapsed on its foundations. So it’s no surprise that
Lend Lease were hired as builders. The $150 million budget has also
already blown out to $180 million because they’ll be using a rather
handsome, aesthetically pleasing method of constructing the building
brick-by-brick. Because, you know, UTS is known for its beauty.
So
look, we can't escape Lend Lease. It's all around us whether you're
up in the Tower or down in Markets. The uni could pass out mandatory
hard hats (just like when we had to wear boaters in school!) but that
would probably be unnecessary. P.r.o.b.a.b.l.y. Instead,
next time you're sitting around on the AstroTurf enjoying a coffee,
you might want to look up. Just for a heads-up on that burning crane
plummeting through the sky. Remember to sidestep and you'll be fine.
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