Bacchus Marsh Grammar, Years 7–8 Classrooms

Developer	VSBA
Client	Modular by SHAPE
Location	Bacchus Marsh, VIC
Solution	The Helical Pile
Scale	15 piles
Timeframe	2023, 10 days from design to install

The Stake

Shape’s classroom modules had already been placed on site when the original foundation solution began to fail. Within 72 hours, the structure had sunk into the ground, settling so far that every module had to be lifted off, and the foundations needed to be re-laid.

The Challenge

The foundation product used on the original design was rated to handle the structural loads on paper, but the site sat on uncontrolled fill, ground conditions that the original design had never tested for. That’s the gap: a product can be fully compliant with load capacity requirements and still fail if the geotechnical conditions beneath it were never properly assessed. With modules already down and the build meant to be progressing, every day added risk to a project the client wanted resolved, fast.

The Approach

FTA’s replacement design began with a comprehensive geotechnical assessment of the fill conditions, rather than relying solely on structural load calculations, to understand exactly what the original design had missed. FTA’s Lead Engineer, Travis Yap, redesigned the foundation system within 3 days, and the new design was approved by Shape’s design engineer during that window. A further 4 days later, FTA had established the site with custom screw piles manufactured and a crew ready to install. Every element of AS2159 was applied to the replacement design, with the engineer on site for the full install to manage the site’s specific ground conditions in real time.

Low-angle view of a multi-story modular prefabricated steel building frame under construction at dusk, featuring open steel framing, glass windows, and safety scaffolding against a purple and orange gradient sky.

The Outcome

Within 10 days of establishing the site, the modules were repositioned onto the new foundations, and the project was back on track, with the Shape’s client never aware there had been a failure at all. It’s a clean example of why a full geotechnical assessment, not a structural assessment alone, is what actually protects a project: a product can be compliant on paper and still sink if the ground it’s founded in was never properly understood.