Queens Wharf: How Cogent’s Whole-of-Business Model Delivered on Brisbane’s Landmark Project

Queens Wharf isn’t just another big job on the Cogent Scaffolding project list. It’s a once-in-a-generation development that has reshaped Brisbane’s riverfront and showcased what Cogent can do when every part of the business pulls in the same direction.

From directors and project managers to leading hands, scaffolders, scaffold designers, safety, HR and admin support, Queens Wharf has been a live demonstration of Cogent’s internal supply chain working exactly as it was designed: one integrated team, delivering one extremely complex project, safely and consistently over many years.

A city-shaping project, a long-term partnership

Queens Wharf is a world-class integrated resort development in the Brisbane CBD, blending a casino, hotels, apartments, retail, public realm and repurposed heritage buildings across more than 12 hectares. The total construction value sits in the billions, with Multiplex delivering the main works for the Destination Brisbane Consortium.

Cogent’s involvement began with early works on site years before the main contract was formally secured. After more than two years of planning and negotiations with Multiplex, Cogent won the full scaffolding package in April 2020 – a hard-fought award that reflected both technical capability and the depth of Cogent’s project management systems.

From there, Cogent remained on site for years as the integrated resort, public realm and heritage buildings took shape, providing scaffolding solutions across nine major zones of work.

The scope: every type of scaffold, on every type of structure

Queens Wharf demanded almost every scaffold configuration in the playbook. Across the multiple towers, podiums and heritage assets, Cogent delivered:

Perimeter and access scaffold
Extensive birdcage scaffold
Cantilevered scaffold and cantilevered bays
Hung scaffolds and construction stairs
Stretcher stairs and access bridges
Form support and complex temporary works
Kilometres of handrail

On the towers, Cogent’s design and project teams engineered and installed beams at level 19 to cantilever out, allowing scaffold to be continued up to level 23 while lower levels were progressively dismantled to expose the façade.

The dismantle work itself was a major logistics exercise, spanning many months of sorting, stacking and packing thousands of components ready for a tightly scheduled fleet of trucks to return gear to the yard, all coordinated around a busy CBD site and traffic management constraints.

Signature elements: Sky Deck, Oculus and Neville Bonner Bridge

Several iconic features within Queens Wharf highlight Cogent’s capability at the complex end of the access spectrum:

Sky Deck

The signature arc-shaped building includes a dramatic elevated Sky Deck, positioned around 100 metres above William Street to provide 360-degree views of Brisbane. Cogent’s cantilevered scaffold and access solutions around Towers 3 and 4 were critical to enabling the Sky Deck installation, including dismantling scaffold on one tower while maintaining cantilevered bays on another for upcoming works.

The Oculus

Neville Bonner Bridge interface

Cogent also supported critical works associated with the Neville Bonner Bridge connection. Over 14 nights, 60 tonnes of steel was lifted into place using a 300-tonne mobile crane and locked down with 420 bolts, forming the cantilevered bridge start over the Riverside Expressway. The operation involved months of 3D geotechnical modelling to understand structural behaviour and live monitoring of road movements as works proceeded.

Project Managers & Contract Administration

On a project with nine major zones, hundreds of client personnel on site daily and constantly evolving priorities, project management and commercial control were critical. Cogent’s project managers and contract administrators dedicated full-time focus to Queens Wharf, coordinating:

Resourcing across the integrated resort, public realm and heritage buildings
Staging, crane windows and shared access with Multiplex and other trades
Engineering sign-offs and design revisions
Variations, site instructions, RFIs and day-to-day commercial administration

Scaffold Designer & Engineers

Behind every cantilevered bay, hung stair run or podium birdcage was a chain of design work: concept options, 3D modelling, loading checks, build sequences and sign-offs. On Queens Wharf, design wasn’t a “set and forget” package. It evolved constantly as architecture progressed, other trades moved through zones and the client sought refinements to access and staging.

The design and engineering team worked closely with project managers, leading hands and safety staff to ensure that what was drawn could actually be built efficiently and safely in the real site conditions.

Leading Hands & Scaffold Crews

On the ground, each major zone within Queens Wharf had its own leading hand and dedicated scaffold crew, giving clear ownership and accountability for progress and housekeeping in that area. These zone teams reported into site supervisors and project managers, creating a clear line of communication from front line to boardroom.

The results were visible: high-quality scaffold builds, tidy work areas and the ability to stand up or strip back substantial scaffold structures in compressed timeframes without compromising safety.

SAFETY, QUALITY & HR

For a project of this scale, “no major safety concerns” is not just a throwaway line – it’s a key performance indicator. Cogent’s safety and quality teams worked closely with Multiplex and other stakeholders to maintain systems, inspections and close-out processes over many years of activity, across multiple interfaces and workfronts.

HR and training support were equally important, ensuring the right mix of licensed scaffolders, advanced skills, and supervisory capability were available, and that new team members coming onto the job understood both Cogent’s expectations and the client’s site rules.

Yard, Logistics & Admin Support

None of the work on the skyline happens without the quiet efficiency of the people managing gear, trucks, rosters, payroll, procurement and administration in the background.

The Queens Wharf dismantle stages alone involved weeks of dismantling, sorting, stacking and packing scaffold componentry, coordinated to align with truck movements and yard capacity.

Traffic management on and around the site was described as “intense” and relied on highly skilled planning from Cogent’s project and logistics teams.

Administrative staff handled the steady stream of emails, site instructions, digital dockets, safety observations and documentation that a long-running Tier 1 project generates, ensuring the site teams could focus on delivery.

A model proven at scale

Queens Wharf has been a long, demanding and highly visible test of Cogent Scaffolding’s model:

One of Brisbane’s largest and most complex developments
Multi-year delivery across nine zones and multiple asset types
High-risk interfaces including bridge construction and major CBD road closures
Signature architectural features like the Sky Deck and Oculus
Zero major safety incidents across years on site

Most importantly, it has shown that Cogent’s strength doesn’t sit in any single role or discipline. The real power is in how directors, project managers, leading hands, scaffolders, designers, safety, HR and admin support all work in sync as one internal supply chain, fully aligned around the client and the project.

Queens Wharf has transformed a part of Brisbane’s CBD. For Cogent, it has also crystallised what the company does best: delivering complex, large-scale scaffolding projects safely, reliably and as one cohesive team.

With thanks to Mark Coleman from Brizzy Pics for selected images.

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