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Mexican miracle comes to Perth hillside

What does the miraculous apparition of Mary, on a hill north west of Mexico City, have to do with a contemporary development of colourful, luxury units in Perth? Builder Ben Pitt describes a new project overlooking Scarborough Beach that the owner has called ‘Guadalupe Hill’ and one which the locals are watching with interest.

In 1531 a lady from heaven appeared to a poor Indian on a hill near Mexico City. She identified herself as Mary, Mother of Christ and instructed him to have the bishop build a temple on the site. This was ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe’ and an incredible array of miracles and cures have been attributed to her. Ten million still visit her shrine on the hill annually, making her Mexico City home the most popular Marian shrine in the world, and the most visited Catholic Church in the world next to the Vatican.

The Lady’s fame is why the new Catholic owner of what used to be one of Perth’s most well-known and iconic sites, is building a brand new development with a Mexican theme. The five residential units being built on a somewhat infamous local hill on which the ‘Blue House’ used to stand, will now display a huge picture of Mother Mary on the side of one building, visible when heading North. Our Lady of Guadalupe will be spot lit each night for all to see.

The site was originally the location of Blue House, one of the most famous buildings on Perth’s nearby coast. The house was known by everyone because of its prominent position overlooking Scarborough Beach. A Malaysian prince purchased the site but when the plans he had for the site were not approved he sold to the current owner.

Ben Pitt, supervisor on this particular project for Bill Pitt & Sons, a Perth based construction business, explains that the units will have an overall Mexican theme in addition to Our Lady. According to Ben this made the project quite unusual. The building also needed to be constructed to withstand the harsh conditions that come with the commanding ocean views.

The residential units are to be fully furnished and short term leased to the upper end of the market. The units are designed to grab attention (aside from their sacred imagery) and each has a brightly coloured tower, interesting fixtures and unusual materials such as the imported Indian stone tiles used throughout.

Given the site conditions and the complexities of some materials (gluing the Indian tiles was a problem), the builder needed to find innovative savings in other areas to remain within the client’s budget. Traditionally the Perth market uses suspended concrete slab construction for upper floors, which involves several trades and propping systems during construction. Ben Pitt, a carpenter by trade, opted for the more economical timber floor system which his team could install themselves.

Ben who had used Hyspan before, was shown how Hybeam H2 provided the most economical solution for these floors. Once Ben was introduced to Hybeam H2 and began to work with it on-site, the I-Joists impressed him in many ways:

“Originally the floor was designed as concrete with cherry wood flooring on top but we changed to Hybeam H2. We put solid jarrah on top of the joists. This was approximately a 15% cost saving doing it this way. It is structurally just as sound and I prefer to walk on timber floors as opposed to solid concrete. Most people find it more comfortable to walk around on.”

The weight of the joists and the large spans also helped to make construction of the unit’s upper floors simpler. “The joists could span from one external wall to the other with one span,” says Ben, “whereas if we had used solid timber 190 x 45 joists, we would need to support them in the middle. You can cut them easily in certain places to run services through and you can’t do that to the same extent with other timbers.”

Hyspan H2 was used to trim the stairwells. The solid Hyspan H2 was used to support the ends of the joists that terminated at the stair well. Ben says he uses Hyspan H2 all the time in the units, schools and churches that he and Bill Pitt & Sons erect all over Perth’s South West suburbs.

He also points out that because Hybeam H2 and Hyspan H2 are now treated for white ants* this made the timber even more price competitive. Other treated pine not only loses on span, but is also more expensive.

All in all, the apparition on Perth’s famous hill, now ‘Guadalupe Hill’, is ready for the luxury rental market. The lightweight timber materials meant the project progressed quickly and the entire project came in at around $2 million for construction, which the client no doubt thought was a small miracle in itself.

*Hybeam H2 and Hyspan H2 are safely treated with DeterMite to provide termite resistance to hazard Level 2 for areas of Australia south of the Tropic of Capricorn.