16 Oct 2017
From the City of Gosnells to the City of Melville where he holds his current role as Senior Project Manager, Paul McCallister has been part of building sustainable local communities that will enchant residents and boost social engagement.
I lead the City of Melville’s project management team in delivering strategic projects, such as the proposed Library and Cultural Centre, which is the city’s biggest single undertaking to date and is targeting a 6 Star Green Star – Design & As Built rating.
I work alongside a wide range of external consultants including architects, building services, engineers, town planners, quantity surveyors, local government authorities and state government agencies.
The city’s Library and Cultural Centre is shaping up to be one of the most significant sustainability projects I’ve worked on, given the diversity of activities and services it will offer to the community. This includes a museum, art gallery and performing arts hub, which will become a hotspot for cultural engagement for residents.
Looking back at my previous role at the City of Gosnells, I must make mention of the Mills Park redevelopment, which is another remarkable project. Achieving a 6 Star Green Star – Design & As Built rating, Mills Park has since been awarded 15 national and state awards over the past two years and was honoured with the 2017 Project of the Year from the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia.
With both the Mills Park redevelopment project and the City of Melville’s Library and Cultural Centre, the biggest challenges are communication and stakeholder engagement. A significant portion of my time is spend identifying and managing stakeholders, keeping them up-to-date with the right level of information and negotiating with opponents of the projects to turn them into advocates!
On a local level, it means designing and constructing buildings and infrastructure to meet the changing climatic conditions in Perth in a cost effective, environmentally sensitive manner. It also means ensuring that this can be achieved while delivering projects that benefit the community.
I’d like to see the term ‘sustainable design and construction’ become obsolete because the philosophy will be an inherent practice across the industry.