Fleetwood secures major BHP deal to build 1080-room village at Olympic Dam
PARTNER CONTENT: A 60-year-old Australian company has landed the contract to build an entire temporary city for one of the nation's biggest mining projects.
From classrooms to kindergartens, single dwellings to high density housing, prison cells to police stations, single-person quarters to mining camps, chances are that many Australians will have seen a building made by Fleetwood Australia.
With more than 60 years’ experience, Fleetwood uses innovative and proven methodologies in the design, manu-facturing and construction of permanent modular and relocatable buildings across several sectors, including housing, education, government, commercial, custodial and mining and resources.
Now Fleetwood is teaming up with BHP on the big miner’s massive Olympic Dam project in South Australia, as well as other projects.
“Fleetwood is currently working on a project to design, manufacture and deliver high- quality modular accommodation and facilities to BHP’s Olympic Dam mine, for its smelter campaign maintenance and smelter refinery expansion projects,” John Klepec, Fleetwood’s executive chair said.
The total program forecast will deliver:
● Up to 1080 rooms; and
● 20 laundries for a planned 1600-strong construction workforce.
Mr Klepec said Fleetwood has begun manufacturing the accommodation modules at its premises in South Australia, with the finished products starting to be delivered by the end of the year.
“The program with BHP came about after Fleetwood provided modular solutions across other BHP sites and was invited to tender for the smelter campaign maintenance and smelter refinery expansion projects at the outline design solution stage,” he said.
Fleetwood is Australia’s lar-gest locally owned and operated modular building solutions company, with extensive experience in the mining sector.
Mr Klepec said this experience gives the company a deep understanding of BHP’s accommodation and infrastructure needs, and the critical role high-quality facilities play in attracting and retaining talent.
Fleetwood’s modular construction approach allows fast deployment of large-scale accommodation and facilities, keeping projects on schedule and reducing overall lead times.
The company’s modular facilities feature high-quality finishes, modern designs, and insulation for temperature and noise control.
Mr Klepec said this helps to create safe, comfortable spaces that enhance worker morale and productivity.
“Modular is also inherently scalable, meaning facilities can be expanded, reconfigured, or relocated as project and workforce needs change,” he said.
“The relationship with BHP, and in particular the project delivery team, has been really positive, and this has resulted in on time, high-quality outcomes.
“We’re looking forward to continuing our work together and supporting future projects across other BHP sites.”
This article is part of the Back Australia series, which is supported by Australian Made, Harvey Norman, Westpac, Bunnings, Coles, TechnologyOne, REA Group, Cadbury, R.M.Williams, Qantas, Vodafone and BHP.
