Georgiou Group is equipping the next generation of industry leaders with the knowledge and skills required to deliver major infrastructure pipelines, benefitting the entire sector as a result. Recent works on the new Midland Station exemplify just that.
Georgiou’s origins can be traced back close to five decades ago in Western Australia, when it began as ‘Direct Drainage’. The eventual amalgamation of Direct Drainage, Geocrete and Roadpave in 1996 paved the way for the Georgiou Group name that’s become synonymous with Australia’s infrastructure sector.
Despite its ambitious growth and vision – with operations now across Australia – Georgiou Group has always prided itself on maximising its local impact.
This approach emphasises support for local industries, organisations, and individuals, all while being guided by the core values of Care, Integrity, and Excellence.
But delivering transformational projects takes much more than just scope and scale, a key reason why Georgiou Group prides itself on its people. Understanding that having a great team is just one of the keys to success, Georgiou Group aims to attract, develop and grow individuals who identify with the company’s philosophy.
Sam’s journey
For Samuel Collins, studying and garnering experience across both civil and geotechnical engineering provided plenty of career opportunity. But it wasn’t long before he gravitated towards larger, more integrated infrastructure, determined to develop coordination, strategy, and leadership skills.
Collins’ first impression of Georgiou left a lasting impact. As he explains, the company’s “people first” approach was obvious for all to see, an aspect that he was keen to learn more about.
“Right from the onset, I noticed this culture that Georgiou had, initially in the way that managers treated their people. I gravitated towards that straight away, I remember thinking ‘I want to be a part of that’,” he says.
“I could see that they supported their people, they backed them and gave them ownership and accountability.”
Collins’ first few days with the business were no different.
“It didn’t matter if I was in the office or out on-site, staff – including general managers – would come up and ask, ‘Hey, what’s your name? What do you do here?’ It was just really refreshing,” he says.
Employed initially as a Site Engineer, Collins received close support and scheduled development reviews to map his growth and journey within the business.
“From the very beginning, Georgiou has consistently provided me with opportunities to step into bigger and more complex roles, which really helped to accelerate my growth compared to traditional career pathways,” he says.
Project-based and external mentors also influenced this growth.
“The management group has actively pushed me into positions where I’ve felt self-doubt, but they’ve always been there to support me,” Collins says.
He adds that the support provided through high pressure delivery phases helped to mould his development as a leader, resulting in his appointment as a construction manager on one of the METRONET program’s largest works packages.
The new Midland Station
The METRONET construction pipeline represents the largest ever investment in Perth’s public transport network, ultimately delivering about 72 kilometres of new rail,
as well as 23 new stations.
Just one of these is the new Midland Station, which opened in February this year.
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The $400 plus million dollar project has involved the relocation of station infrastructure and demolition of the existing Midland Station building. A new 12-stand bus interchange and multi-storey car park comprising more than 800 bays was also delivered.
Additional works included a pedestrian overpass to connect the north and south sides of the rail corridor, more than one kilometre of shared path, 1.7 kilometres of new dual track and much more.
Armed with the knowledge and skills attained throughout his journey, Collins was tasked with driving program alignment across all disciplines as part of his role as Construction Manager – Midland Junction Alliance.
“The Midland Junction Alliance represented a really complex and multi-disciplinary project,” he says. “Typically, with civil structures, we’d be working with one or two other segments, but this project had everything. We had major infrastructure construction, service relocations, civil upgrades, as well as the reconstruction of the entire rail corridor.
“So, the project really encompassed four very distinct and very different disciplines.”
Collins says that despite the challenges, the coordination and execution by high performing subject matter experts (SMEs) created a collaborative working environment, where solutions were discussed, planned and actioned.
“On a job of this scale, with a very tight schedule and high pressures, teams can sometimes disintegrate, go into silos and start to blame each other when things don’t go right. That never happened on this project,” Collins says.
“The culture and teamwork we had resulted in everyone supporting, find the fixes and overall, just working well together.”
Delivered as part of an alliance with McConnell Dowell, Arcadis Australia and BG&E, the new Midland Station is already providing improvements to the accessibility, efficiency and proximity of public transport for the local community.
“I know that the project team is really proud to have what was a complex project result in an amazing looking bit of infrastructure, right in the epicentre of the Midland community,” Collins says. “It’s given the community a massive facelift and I can see more people now wanting to come and visit Midland.
“As a business, Georgiou has a strong reputation for completing partnership-based delivery, whether that’s with other contractors, or by developing alliances. I find that this approach always leads to the best possible outcomes. The prospect of being a part of that more is really exciting.”
Collins says the continued growth of Georgiou is an equally exciting prospect, particularly the potential of being involved in more large-scale and nationally significant infrastructure projects.
Recent developments, such as Georgiou Group’s acquisition by construction giant STRABAG, are set to increase the company’s capabilities in delivering such complex works, while supporting the projects Georgiou already has underway across the nation.
“The company is growing exponentially and with that, our ability to deliver more complex and multi-disciplinary infrastructure. I think there’s a clear opportunity for Georgiou to continue to be a leader in the style of community oriented, major project infrastructure,” Collins says.
Importantly, he also notes his enthusiasm for giving back; using the skills and knowledge he attained, to support and develop upcoming leaders within the business, just as he was mentored.
“I too want to take the time to get to our junior cohort and really focus my attention on building high-performing teams, therefore contributing to our next group of leaders,” Collins says.
This article was originally published in the May edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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