The business is based on the simple premise of honesty and integrity – the company’s professionalism and passion for design, construction and project management has ensured continual growth on a national scale through repeat business.

A key advantage is how Sitzler operates – not as separate State or Territory-based entities but as a flexible group with employees who willingly relocate interstate or to remote areas for project delivery, and who are accustomed to providing input into projects in other States.

The business has built a reliable network of support relationships with local, experienced and capable subcontractors and suppliers, many of whom Sitzler continues to upskill and provide opportunity for growth through their project inclusion.

Local industry participation rates routinely exceed statutory requirements, providing economic benefits to the community where they operate.

Sitzler’s main offices are in Darwin and South Australia, but the company also maintains capability and presence through permanently staffed offices in Exmouth in West Australia, Canberra and the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

The company has fostered steady and responsible business growth over the past decade, which has led to a significant increase in baseline project portfolio and staff numbers to accommodate it.

The key to the growth and success is the never-changing attitude of management and employees in recognising the value of diversity while also fostering an inclusive, respectful environment where everyone can reach their potential.

Sitzler, which has nearly 300 staff delivering or supporting projects, is proud that the long-standing culture and family feel within the business has been maintained.

The mentorship provided by longterm employees is in a large part responsible for this.

Recent achievements include:

• Adelaide office expansion and refurbishment completed in January 2023

• Canberra office opened in March 2023 • 280+ staff across the country

• Six percent of veterans employed

• Ten percent Indigenous workforce

• Twenty percent female workforce

• Twenty percent of workforce with more than 10 years of service

The portfolio of projects across the Northern Territory has contributed to Sitzler’s steady growth over the past 12 months and when completed will bring direct benefits to the community.

Civic and State Square Precinct

The Civic and State Square project is presenting Sitzler with challenges that few construction companies have ever faced – how to protect priceless works of art.

Development is in two stages: a three-storey art gallery next to the Supreme Court and a vast pedestrian-only civic parkland including interpretation and wayfinding, shading, landscaping and new water features. Work began in early 2023 and is scheduled to finish in the second half of 2025. The Northern Territory Art Gallery design respects the civic setting of the Supreme Court and Parliament House while enlivening the Civic and State Square Precinct by integrating architecture, art and landscape.

The new art gallery’s iconic façade mirrors the dusky ochre hues of the porcellanite rock cliffs that encircle the Darwin peninsular. It will become a cultural beacon inside a central gathering place to connect Darwin locals with their civic and cultural institutions.

The art gallery, with its high quality and contemporary design, will not only exhibit the Northern Territory Government’s own significant art collections but will also display worldclass Australian and international travelling exhibitions.

Sitzler project director Ingo Niemeier says that this demands tight security measures, special air-conditioning, controlled humidity and the highest standards of waterproofing.

“This project is complicated in some ways,” he says. “The Territory’s artworks and those arriving in travelling exhibitions will be valuable and irreplaceable, so the owners of the artworks must be reassured that everything will be properly protected.

“Even the loading bay will be air-conditioned.”

The art gallery will feature 200kVA photovoltaic of rooftop solar among other sustainable design features and construction practices, such as using ‘green’ concrete that uses recycled material created from a manufacturing by-product and recycling timber and excavated porcellanite rock removed from site.

The Civic and State Square project will support about 130 jobs at the peak of construction and up to 30 subcontracts for small Territory businesses.

Royal Darwin Hospital – mental health unit

Sitzler is building a three-storey, 24-bed mental health unit at Royal Darwin Hospital.

Completing major works in hospital settings can be demanding for several reasons, including:

• The combination of security and health needs

• The unit is in close proximity to the hospital’s ambulance access to the emergency department

• The building is a “tight fit” on a constrained block of land adjacent to existing buildings

• The unit will be linked to the emergency department and the hospital’s existing Cowdy and Joan Ridley Unit mental health wards.

About 100 workers will be on site at the peak of construction and Sitzler will use about 25 subcontractors, nearly all of them local.

“We try to use Territory subcontractors whenever possible,” says project manager Toby Preece. “The only interstate contractors are specialists that can’t be found locally.”

Sitzler has a policy of using Territory subbies whenever possible. The project is funded by the Australian Government and Northern Territory Government.

Tiger Brennan Drive and Berrimah Road overpass

Sitzler is delivering one of the Territory’s most complex projects – the Tiger Brennan Drive and Berrimah Road overpass.

The project will improve road safety outcomes and reduce traffic delays for the 20,000 drivers who commute between Darwin, Palmerston and the rural area, as well as increase the flow for freight connectivity to East Arm Port.

Sitzler’s project manager Rod Jeffrey says complexities faced by for the highly-trained Sitzler team include:

• Removal of contaminated material

• Programming work to minimise disruption to commuters

• Relocation and future proofing of service infrastructure with minimal disruption to the public

• Management of environmental controls on a large site.

Sitzler were awarded the contract in August 2021 which was followed by an extensive design and construction planning phase that culminated in the agreement to proceed with the Stage Two construction works in October 2022.

The multi-million dollar investment, jointly funded by the Australian Government and Northern Territory Government, is on track to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.

It is supporting 150 jobs at the peak of construction, with 172 local subcontractors and suppliers being used.

Pleasingly 99 percent of the workers and subcontractors are Territorian while 40 apprentices and 116 Aboriginal workers have worked on the project to date.

The NT Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics worked closely with Sitzler to develop a design that would improve safety and traffic flow.

The overpass at the junction of Tiger Brennan Drive and Berrimah Road will be finished off with a very Territory touch; incorporating the artworks of two Larrakia artists based on the theme “Dalay”, which is the monsoon in the Indigenous calendar.

SITZLER IN DEFENCE

The company has delivered significant infrastructure projects for Defence in Northern Australia over the past 10 years. Despite the significant growth, team members from the earliest work with Defence remain with Sitzler, which has fostered longstanding relationships and invaluable experience. Sitzler is supporting a range of projects for the Department of Defence.