John Holland appointed to lead early design phase for major Melbourne recycled water upgrade

Expanding recycled water supply for Melbourne’s growing north 💧

We’ve been appointed to lead the early design phase of @yvwater's new Wollert Recycled Water Treatment Facility.

The new, purpose-built recycled water facility in Wollert will increase treatment capacity from 2.9 million litres per day to 10 million litres per day, supporting the future housing growth expected over the next two decades while reducing demand on Melbourne's drinking water supplies.

It will be built alongside the existing treatment plant site in Wollert, which will continue operating throughout the design and construction phases to ensure uninterrupted recycled water services.

This is an important project for one of Melbourne's fastest-growing regions and another opportunity to apply our water infrastructure expertise to help support future communities.

We're looking forward to working closely with Yarra Valley Water as the project moves through the next stage of development.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #Water #Infrastructure

Designed for the global stage and built to last 🏊

When John Holland completed Stage 2 of the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC), the venue was preparing to host the some of the world's best swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

The project delivered a 52-metre outdoor competition pool, a 3.5 million litre aquatic facility, a hydrotherapy pool, permanent grandstand seating for 3,000 spectators, retail and function spaces, a multi-level car park, and extensive refurbishments to the historic South Melbourne Technical School.

Delivering that work required construction within a live operating sporting precinct, with existing facilities remaining open and major events, including the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, continuing throughout the project.

One of its defining features was the roof structure. Among the most technically complex of its kind at the time, it was designed to operate in two modes, providing permanent cover for everyday use while expanding to accommodate up to 10,000 spectators during major events.

Twenty years on, the venue continues to host elite competitions, national championships and community sport, proving the value of infrastructure designed with a long-term legacy in mind.

For the thousands of athletes and visitors who use the facility today, MSAC remains a lasting example of John Holland's legacy in delivering major sporting and cultural venues across Australia.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #MSAC #Building

Turning recycled materials into innovative rail infrastructure ♻️🚈

Our North Western Program Alliance (NWPA) team has been recognised as a finalist in the #RailIndustryAwards for its work on the Maidstone Tram Maintenance and Stabling Facility, where innovation was built into the project from design through to delivery.

Across the facility, the team helped trial and adopt solutions with value well beyond this site.

That includes an Australian-first carbon injected concrete mix using recycled aggregates, delivering a 42.3% reduction in CO2 emissions and stronger concrete performance.

The team also introduced Australian-first recycled plastic sleepers in light rail, alongside recycled plastic noise walls made in Melbourne using 80% recycled material.

Just as importantly, NWPA helped shift the standard for tram track concrete, working with Yarra Trams to adopt a 25% supplementary cementitious material mix that reduced material carbon emissions by 21% per cubic metre.

Together, these initiatives earned 16 verified innovation points from the Infrastructure Sustainability Council.

The impact is bigger than lower carbon. These solutions create pathways for more durable, circular materials, reduce waste, support local manufacturing and give future projects proven options to deliver better environmental and economic outcomes.

It’s also a strong example of our end-to-end rail and transport capabilities, from designing and building the facility to operating the Yarra Trams network every day.

A great achievement for our NWPA team and we’ll be cheering them on, come 1 September! 👏

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #Rail #Sustainability

A new public space for Punchbowl is now open ✅

Punchbowl Plaza has opened as part of the Sydenham to Bankstown upgrade, creating around 700 square metres of new public space for the local community.

The plaza provides a safer, more accessible link through the precinct and into the future Metro station, helping make every day journeys smoother and more connected.

The new plaza is part the work we’re delivering between Sydenham and Bankstown stations, which will upgrade nine other stations and bring a 13km corridor of the almost 130-year-old T3 Bankstown Line up to Metro standards.

Delivered for Sydney Metro and the NSW Government, alongside our joint venture partner Laing O’Rourke, this work is helping prepare the corridor for a more reliable, turn-up-and-go Metro service.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #SydneyMetro #SydenhamToBankstown

30 metres below ground, a major milestone has been reached at Waterfront Brisbane 🏗️

The project's diaphragm wall (D-wall) is now complete, forming a waterproof barrier around the future basement and paving the way for the next phase of construction.

Extending up to 30 metres deep, the D-wall is one of the project's key early works and has taken years of planning, engineering expertise and collaboration to deliver.

With basement excavation now underway, Waterfront Brisbane will soon begin to emerge above ground as construction of the ground floor gets underway.

It's an important step forward as this city-shaping development continues to take shape in the heart of Brisbane.

Thank you to our teams and project partners for delivering this milestone safely!

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #WaterfrontBrisbane

Transforming lives starts with understanding people, place and culture.

Many of our project teams recently took part in First Nations Languages Lunch & Learn sessions facilitated by Wiradjuri man Peter Beath, exploring the depth, diversity and resilience of First Nations languages.

With this year’s NAIDOC Week theme, 50 Years of Deadly, celebrating strength, culture and community across generations, these sessions are a powerful reminder that language is one of the ways culture continues to live, grow and be shared.

The response from our people has been so strong that we’re now expanding the sessions across our projects and corporate offices, with future sessions reflecting the local languages of each region.

It also builds on the conversations happening through our John Holland Yarning Circle, a culturally safe and inclusive space for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to connect, share and be heard.

Each session creates more space for listening, learning and understanding the cultures and languages connected to the places where we work.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #NAIDOCWeek #Reconciliation

Keeping Canberra moving, wire-free 🚈🔌

The Canberra Metro team celebrated a huge milestone this week with the successful completion of the Light Rail Vehicle Procurement Retrofit and Depot Expansion (LPRDE) program.

The program successfully retrofitted 14 light rail vehicles with onboard battery technology and delivered five new LRVs to the network.

Delivered entirely in Canberra, this first-of-its-kind program upgraded the fleet while maintaining day-to-day operations and built lasting local capability in engineering, high-voltage systems and rail assurance.

The new technology will allow light rail to operate wire-free between Alinga Street and Commonwealth Park, supporting a more sustainable transport network while preserving some of Canberra's most iconic views. The completion of this program also ensures the fleet and supporting infrastructure are ready to support Light Rail Stage 2A and the next chapter of Canberra's growing light rail network.

John Holland is proud to be part of the Canberra Metro team delivering world-class public transport for the ACT Government and Canberra commuters.

#JohnHollandTranformingLives #JohnHollandRailAndTransport #CanberraMetro #CanberraLightRail

Redeveloping a major stadium in the middle of Sydney is complex enough.

Doing it on a live brownfield site through labour shortages, record rainfall and a global pandemic – and still delivering on time and on budget - is the John Holland story at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.

Completed in August 2022, the redevelopment of the old Sydney Football Stadium was delivered through close collaboration, disciplined planning and smart construction thinking from the outset, all within a highly constrained and active city precinct.

One of the stadium’s defining features is its roof, delivered using modular construction approaches that reduced work at height, improved quality control and supported safe, efficient progress on site.

Sustainability was integral to the project, which achieved LEED Gold accreditation. More than 87 percent of construction waste was recycled, energy and water efficiency benchmarks were exceeded, and the design supports more sustainable travel through strong public transport connections and end of trip facilities.

The project has since been recognised with numerous blue-chip industry awards for its design and construction methodology, setting the benchmark for stadium construction in Australia.

Beyond the build, the elevated Moore Park entertainment precinct is driving growth in New South Wales' visitor economy, strengthening the cultural and sporting sector and making Sydney a more livable city.

This is the standard of excellence John Holland brings to every stadium project.

#JohnHolland #AllianzStadium #Stadia #Infrastructure