Fusco Constructions is heading to Tonsley
A builder of major state government projects will soon move into new digs at Tonsley, complete with an upgrade of facilities that will allow it to construct modular, transportable buildings.
The company currently building transportable police stations for SA Police at the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands will soon construct a new 4000 sqm manufacturing facility at the Tonsley Innovation District.
Fusco Constructions will be able to upscale its capabilities as a result, as demand grows for its style of modular construction which involves off-site building of transportable buildings that can be dropped in place, reducing time spent on-site in turn.
This is advantageous considering the type of projects Fusco Constructions – owned by John Fusco – delivers. For example, instead of spending extra time and money building police stations in situ at the APY lands – which would mean a team would have to regularly make the 15-hour-plus drive from Adelaide and back – the buildings can be made at Tonsley and then placed on a truck to be delivered direct.
Fusco’s transportables are a far cry from the hot tin sheds many would’ve learnt their times tables in; they’re built to last and are decked out with modern amenities.
The police stations for example have bullet-proof walls pre-installed, while some of the education buildings the company is working on now come ready with air-conditioning infrastructure.
The new Tonsley site will be yet another shift for Fusco Constructions, which started in the 1960s as a plumbing business. Since then, it’s transformed into a specialist fabrication and construction company and currently employs about 35 people.
You might like
The headquarters will also bring together Fusco’s split operations onto one site. The business currently works out of offices in southern Adelaide, while its manufacturing facility is in the north at Burton.
From Burton, Fusco has delivered important state government contracts including the Pukatja Youth Centre and Community Pool complex at the APY Lands, and has also recently been awarded modular projects for the Education Department including at the Elliston Area School, Berri Regional Secondary College and Edwardstown Primary School.
Fusco will start working on building the Tonsley site from the second half of this year, with construction expected to take approximately 18 months to complete.
Housing and Urban Development Minister Nick Champion said Fusco Constructions was “helping demonstrate that modular construction is an evolving specialty that can deliver real benefits”.
“I welcome their decision to join the innovation community at the Tonsley Innovation District,” he said.
“Demand for skills and knowledge in the construction industry continues to increase, and we need the sector to continue to develop new approaches to support development across the state.”
Owner John Fusco – the youngest son of the company’s founder Ben Fusco – told InDaily that the most exciting part of the move would be the firm’s proximity to “innovative companies who are already seeing the benefits of modular construction”.
Stay informed, daily
It also literally puts a roof over the workers’ heads: right now, they build the modular constructions in the open air which can be problematic considering the beginning of Fusco’s process starts with a thick layer of concrete.
From there, the building’s metal skeleton rises from the base and around that walls are placed, electrical wires are threaded through, and necessary holes for plumbing are drilled.
Fusco said he called his method a “modern method of construction…which is basically transportables, but no one likes the terminology of ‘transportables’”.
“There’s some companies that have been around for a while that smack up a square box with metal cladding on the outside – which serve a purpose no doubt – but this modern method of construction is moving to that modular side, using computing technology and better claddings that are more architectural,” Fusco said.
“I don’t think you’d even know that they are modular or transportable buildings.
“We’re not gearing up to do the cookie cutter kind of mining camp building – we’re interested in the more architectural, one-off designed buildings.”
He said there would always be a place for in-situ construction, but something needed to change: “We’ve been building the same way for hundreds of years”.
“With technology, robots, artificial intelligence etc. that’s got to change some of the way that we do construction,” he said.
“You’re going to see improvements with being able to construct in a factory. It will keep our business in touch with the changes that I think are going to occur over the next decade or two.
“No doubt we’ll see big changes. Are people still going to be laying bricks and hurting their backs? Pouring concrete by hand? It’s just a matter of getting that technology to where it’s affordable.”
