BREAKING: A NEW AUD$30 MILLION VOLVO bus and truck head office and Brisbane South dealership is now open for business following an official ceremony officiated at by Queensland Premier The Hon. Annastacia Palaszczuk and Volvo Group president and CEO Martin Lundstedt, it was announced today.
The stunning new facility is situated at 41 Bivouac Place, Wacol, QLD, 4076 – in the massive $350 million, 90-hectare Metroplex Westgate Business Park, 15km south-west of Brisbane. Volvo Group’s new HQ is in Metroplex South.
In addition to the new HQ and VCV Brisbane South dealership there is a paint and panel workshop, with around 350 people having relocated from other Volvo worksites nationwide into the new area. Overall, more than 550 employees will still work at Volvo Group Australia’s five other sites in Wacol.
The company’s new national headquarters, which opened today, accommodates modern offices, a large dealership (selling Volvo, Mack and UD Trucks) and contemporary workshop on a 33,000 square metre site at the Metroplex Westgate Business Park.
Volvo Group Australia president Peter Voorhoeve said the complex brought together bout 200 staff under one roof.
“The new headquarters is an energising space, which will inspire our people on to greater things,” Voorhoeve said.
“The main building’s seven-metre glass hangar door and 12.5-metre atrium were specially engineered to allow heavy vehicles inside, while the central staircase reflects a DNA helix shape linking each level.
“It’s a beautiful building, but more than that it’s a tangible demonstration of Volvo Group’s commitment to its future operations in Australia,” he said.
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What is Metroplex?
Metroplex Westgate is a JV between The GPT Group and local developer Metroplex. A recently opened $20 million road link greatly improves access to the Western Business District site, giving travellers a direct route 20 minutes to Brisbane or Ipswich CBD, or 35 minutes to Brisbane Airport or Port of Brisbane.
Once complete Metroplex Westgate (divided into three section: East, West and South, the latter where Volvo is based) will include up to 300,000sqm of industrial, commercial and retail floorspace – along with 17 hectares of “green space and nature corridors”.
Volvo Bus Australia GM Lauren Downs told ABC magazine the new head office near Brisbane is decked out by a Swedish interior design company for an authentic Scandinavian feel.
The new Brisbane HQ move came at a time when the majority of the Sydney Bus Team will be leaving its Chullora, NSW, base of 13 years next month in September to take up residence at a brand-new location at Prestons, south-west of Sydney, backed up also by the new Truck and Bus dealership at Blacktown.