Thought Leaders Series: Evolution of Equipment Platforms to Prefab Design

The Evolution Of Equipment Platforms To Prefab Design was the theme for our Thought Leader Series presentation to members of Engineers Australia in Sydney.

Nigel Cro (Managing Director) and Royce Tosen (Principal – Innovation and Technology) combined to present an overview of the history of roof mounted platforms from the original structural steel versions of the past 50 years to today’s lightweight and modular systems which were pioneered by Con-form Group.

Nigel used the event as an opportunity to unveil the newest version of our Span+ Rafter Mount HVAC&R Platform. An indication that innovation is alive and well at Con-form Group.

This early announcement – the product will be available mid-year – was an exciting climax to a comprehensive portrayal of how engineering logic and processes were utilised to cause a revolutionary ground-breaking change in an industry.

Nigel explained how Con-form Group ‘threw the rule book out the window’. He was aware of the limitations of structural steel having worked in height safety for a number of years. As he outlined…structural steel corrodes and has to be replaced. This adds ongoing costs to property owners-building companies. It is very heavy (with a constant unit weight of 7850kg per cubic metre). As such, it requires stronger cranage and is more difficult to manoeuvre about on a rooftop. In some cases, due to its weight, builders have had to add extra columns or bracing to roof support structures and this can impose on the spaces below inside the building.

Cost is another limiting factor when using structural steel with (being more than $AU10,000 per ton). The fourth limitation mentioned was safety. As well as big heavy beams having to be moved about on the rooftop, they need to be oxy’ cut to size and welded into place and the use of hot works on the roof adds to the potential for worker injury.

Nigel recalled how Con-form Group brought together its various teams to take on the evolutionary change: Research & Development, Product Development Centre and Digital Design Centre and their engineers and industrial designers. They asked themselves “What do our customers want?” The checklist for a new generation of HVAC&R platforms included being fit-for-purpose knowing that each site is unique, being suitable for all roof types, durable and long lasting, quick to install and of course cost-effective.

The journey of developing a breakthrough solution began with a search for a replacement to structural steel that could match its structural integrity for heavy loads but be a lot lighter and cost less. The audience learned the evolution of firstly designing a penetration-free purlin mounted platform system then re-inventing it so that it could be rafter mounted. This led to a castellated beam design which was able to distribute loads across its spans.

The desire for an ultra-strong, super-light solution which was quick and easy to install led to the creation of modular designs. The frame components are made and assembled in the manufacturing facility and bolted together on the roof. They are easy to carry around and there is no need for hot works.

Nigel also spoke about how Con-form Group developed a new type of tuneable platform-mounted acoustic screen to wrap around the noisy HVAC&R equipment…and the latest iteration of that is a new Acoustic Louvre Wall. It traps outbound noise but also allows inbound air flow to cool the equipment.

We appreciated the comments from our audience and the questions during the Q&A – they said they liked hearing a solution-based case study.

This was the second Thought Leader Series presentation by Con-form Group in 2024. Nigel’s next presentations are to members of Archify for their CPD program and members of Australian Consulting Structural Engineers in June.

We are re-packaging the information from the EngAust event as a technical booklet and if you would like a copy of that please contact our Marketing Department on [email protected]