There’s a flurry of construction happening in my research institute and the hospital area in which the hospital is situated. The hospital is erecting a new building which has reached 4 storeys in height (left photo in the middle of this page) while the research institute is building an extension, the sight of which changes by the day.
The extension was adjacent to another research institute that is still relatively new, only 6 years old and has received architectural awards of some kind (the white building behind the crane in the right photo in the middle of this page). But you would never have thought the building has been through some serious architectural issues already! The labs and offices are built along two sides of the building, joined by walkways with glass banisters. However, the two sides of the building have been sinking unevenly, and one day in the last two years (the exact date of which I would not know, since I’ve only heard about it now) the banisters have suddenly all fallen to the ground and nearly caused a fatality! That institute was deserted for quite some time while repair works were undertaken.
House foundation is, fair to say, the weakest link in normal construction works for residential dwellings in Australia. Houses are allowed to sag unevenly on the soil, the different parts of which would undergo repeated expansion and contraction at different rates after prolonged periods. As a result, uneven flooring and cracks in ceilings or walls will inevitably develop with time, and sadly it’s all too common a sight and not particularly noteworthy – except when we’re talking about a research institute, a work place housing much expensive and sensitive equipment. Surely this can add to the list of ridiculous things that I’ve been seeing of late. I can only hope that the same infamous construction company is not in charge of building the extension of my institute.
One has to wonder if shocking building quality like this is a consequence of too much construction activity going on around Australia at the moment. The global financial crisis doesn’t seem to have affected the construction industry a bit in Melbourne or Australia, thanks to the federal government which has done all it can to sustain construction activity as a means to keep the peripheral industries alive and the general economy afloat. That’s why the government has committed big money on a few fronts, including a very generous top-up to first home owner grants for those purchasing newly constructed dwellings (and no stamp duty for off-plan purchases), infrastructure upgrade and renovation projects for many schools as well as an extensive programme of constructing new facilities for the scientific research community. Obviously the government doesn’t treat the construction industry too badly!
While the construction industry has been booming for years, the construction quality probably has been lagging and lacking at times. Quite a lot of people around me would complain from time to time how the quality of material and workmanship wasn’t really up to scratch and wasn’t worth the money which the houses asked for, but they were still selling fast. Perhaps it’s our mindset that was lagging behind the times instead. The construction industry is already in a much better shape than so many others which could have never hoped for government help of any kind, but it is probably being over-pampered and is treating house buyers and users with contempt. We certainly have a reason to be displeased when construction quality continues to disappoint.
敝研究所及所在的醫院範圍，最近大興土木，各蓋一幢新樓，醫院的新大樓已蓋了四層（左上圖），研究所擴建部分的地基現正進行工程，每天進出實驗室都目睹其蛻變。
研究所擴建部分的毗鄰有另一所挺新的研究所，落成了六年左右，還好像得過甚麼建築獎（右上圖起重機後的白色大樓），但想不到竟然出現過頗嚴重的建築問題！該研究所的辦工室和實驗室集中在樓宇的兩側，中間由架空走廊連接，走廊的扶手以玻璃承托，但（好像是兩年前吧，有人告訴我才知道）由於兩側不平均沈降，令走廊的玻璃有天突然全部墜下，還差點搞出人命！該研究所也由此全體撤離了好一陣子。
澳洲一般民房建築時不特別著重地基的穩固工作，十年八載後承托房屋的泥土，不同部份經不同程度的膨脹和收縮後，便會令房屋出現不平均沈降，各家各戶或多或少都會受到影響，例如地板不平、牆身或天花出現裂縫等，祇可以見怪不怪形容，但連堂堂一家研究所也會發生如此事故，也堪列入「匪夷所思」之事吧，那家承建商質素實在成疑，希望敝研究所的擴建也不是由該公司承辦吧。
如此差勁的建築質素，真不曉得跟澳洲建築工程太多有關。就算是金融海嘯，墨爾本乃至全澳洲的建築業興旺依然，這全賴澳洲聯邦政府力挺建造業保經濟，須知建築工程帶動不少物料供應和相關行業（例如工匠、運輸），所以政府不惜大灑金錢，首次置業者如購買新興建房屋有優厚的額外津貼（樓花更免印花稅），中小學校的基建和設施翻新工程即將上馬，科研界也受惠，未來幾年會有不少新研究大樓陸續施工，政府真厚待建造業呀！
建築業一片好景很多年了，但對新建的民居，我身邊的人都不時有微言，說用料和手工馬虎欠佳，房屋物不所值，奈何仍如此搶手，也許我們的標準與時代真的很脫節了。不少行業在這些困難的年頭也難望政府扶持，建築界承蒙如此厚待，卻往往薄待消費者和用家，的確令人不忿！
The extension was adjacent to another research institute that is still relatively new, only 6 years old and has received architectural awards of some kind (the white building behind the crane in the right photo in the middle of this page). But you would never have thought the building has been through some serious architectural issues already! The labs and offices are built along two sides of the building, joined by walkways with glass banisters. However, the two sides of the building have been sinking unevenly, and one day in the last two years (the exact date of which I would not know, since I’ve only heard about it now) the banisters have suddenly all fallen to the ground and nearly caused a fatality! That institute was deserted for quite some time while repair works were undertaken.
House foundation is, fair to say, the weakest link in normal construction works for residential dwellings in Australia. Houses are allowed to sag unevenly on the soil, the different parts of which would undergo repeated expansion and contraction at different rates after prolonged periods. As a result, uneven flooring and cracks in ceilings or walls will inevitably develop with time, and sadly it’s all too common a sight and not particularly noteworthy – except when we’re talking about a research institute, a work place housing much expensive and sensitive equipment. Surely this can add to the list of ridiculous things that I’ve been seeing of late. I can only hope that the same infamous construction company is not in charge of building the extension of my institute.
One has to wonder if shocking building quality like this is a consequence of too much construction activity going on around Australia at the moment. The global financial crisis doesn’t seem to have affected the construction industry a bit in Melbourne or Australia, thanks to the federal government which has done all it can to sustain construction activity as a means to keep the peripheral industries alive and the general economy afloat. That’s why the government has committed big money on a few fronts, including a very generous top-up to first home owner grants for those purchasing newly constructed dwellings (and no stamp duty for off-plan purchases), infrastructure upgrade and renovation projects for many schools as well as an extensive programme of constructing new facilities for the scientific research community. Obviously the government doesn’t treat the construction industry too badly!
While the construction industry has been booming for years, the construction quality probably has been lagging and lacking at times. Quite a lot of people around me would complain from time to time how the quality of material and workmanship wasn’t really up to scratch and wasn’t worth the money which the houses asked for, but they were still selling fast. Perhaps it’s our mindset that was lagging behind the times instead. The construction industry is already in a much better shape than so many others which could have never hoped for government help of any kind, but it is probably being over-pampered and is treating house buyers and users with contempt. We certainly have a reason to be displeased when construction quality continues to disappoint.
敝研究所及所在的醫院範圍，最近大興土木，各蓋一幢新樓，醫院的新大樓已蓋了四層（左上圖），研究所擴建部分的地基現正進行工程，每天進出實驗室都目睹其蛻變。
研究所擴建部分的毗鄰有另一所挺新的研究所，落成了六年左右，還好像得過甚麼建築獎（右上圖起重機後的白色大樓），但想不到竟然出現過頗嚴重的建築問題！該研究所的辦工室和實驗室集中在樓宇的兩側，中間由架空走廊連接，走廊的扶手以玻璃承托，但（好像是兩年前吧，有人告訴我才知道）由於兩側不平均沈降，令走廊的玻璃有天突然全部墜下，還差點搞出人命！該研究所也由此全體撤離了好一陣子。
澳洲一般民房建築時不特別著重地基的穩固工作，十年八載後承托房屋的泥土，不同部份經不同程度的膨脹和收縮後，便會令房屋出現不平均沈降，各家各戶或多或少都會受到影響，例如地板不平、牆身或天花出現裂縫等，祇可以見怪不怪形容，但連堂堂一家研究所也會發生如此事故，也堪列入「匪夷所思」之事吧，那家承建商質素實在成疑，希望敝研究所的擴建也不是由該公司承辦吧。
如此差勁的建築質素，真不曉得跟澳洲建築工程太多有關。就算是金融海嘯，墨爾本乃至全澳洲的建築業興旺依然，這全賴澳洲聯邦政府力挺建造業保經濟，須知建築工程帶動不少物料供應和相關行業（例如工匠、運輸），所以政府不惜大灑金錢，首次置業者如購買新興建房屋有優厚的額外津貼（樓花更免印花稅），中小學校的基建和設施翻新工程即將上馬，科研界也受惠，未來幾年會有不少新研究大樓陸續施工，政府真厚待建造業呀！
建築業一片好景很多年了，但對新建的民居，我身邊的人都不時有微言，說用料和手工馬虎欠佳，房屋物不所值，奈何仍如此搶手，也許我們的標準與時代真的很脫節了。不少行業在這些困難的年頭也難望政府扶持，建築界承蒙如此厚待，卻往往薄待消費者和用家，的確令人不忿！
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你嘅新研究所符唔符合OH&S咖？
最煩喺tissue culture嘅incubator。高啲嘅架喺好唔平，啲細胞會長埋一邊！
真係唔明，點解有時新樓可以起得咁差。