Architecture & Design October_December 2020

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2020 SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS WINNERS’ EDITION LIGHTING & RENEWABLE ENERGY SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS WATER CONSERVATION PRINT POST APPROVED 100028280

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Editor’s Letter

ON THE COVER Burwood Brickworks shopping centre is currently the only privately

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developed building in the world open to the entire community

CONTRIBUTORS

Peyer Hogg Hamish McDonald Matthew McDonald Yaara Plaves Stephanie Stefanovic Tone Wheeler

and contains socially equitable, culturally rich and ecologically restorative spaces that connect people to light, air, food and community. It produces more energy than it consumes, captures and re-uses all the water it needs, incorporates biophilic design, avoids the use of toxic and worstin-class building materials, and has a net positive waste impact.

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AWARDS AMBASSADORS

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AWARDS JUDGING PANEL

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AWARDS WINNERS

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Contents PEOPLE ELIZABETH FARRELLY INTERVIEW

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NEWS BIOPHILIC DESIGN

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NATHERS

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HOW THE PANDEMIC

PRACTICAL SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS 62

IS FORCING CHANGE

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A WATER WISE FUTURE

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ENERGY AND BUILDINGS

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PODCAST CORNER

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PRODUCTS SHOWCASE

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PROJECTS TWO SHEDS

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CALIBRE

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2020 SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS

Photography by Griffin Simm.

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Sarah Buckley

the resources of its location

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DEPUTY EDITOR

self-sufficient, doesn’t exceed

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Branko Miletic editor@architectureanddesign.com.au

benefit to the site it occupies. It’s

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EDITOR

which demonstrates a regenerative

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

The 2020 Sustainability Awards are over for another year and the jury has spoken: Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre by NH Architecture (with firm Russel & George) and on behalf of Frasers Property Australia are the ultimate winners this year.

Not that this is of any surprise. Described as being “…a shopping centre that can justifiably claim to be the most sustainable in the world. Burwood Brickworks shopping centre is currently the only privately developed building in the world open to the entire community which demonstrates a regenerative benefit to the site it occupies.”

Moreover, it was also described as being “…selfsufficient, doesn’t exceed the resources of its location and contains socially equitable, culturally rich and ecologically restorative spaces that connect people to light, air, food and community. It produces more energy than it consumes, captures and re-uses all the water it needs, incorporates biophilic design, avoids the use of toxic and worst-in-class building materials, and has a net positive waste impact.”

That last part in itself qualifies the Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre for a raft of awards, but especially those recognising sustainability. NH Architecture deserves a huge round of applause for their vision and their final design.

So after a year that started with massive Australian bushfires and now is ending with the ongoing global pandemic and the chaos of the US presidential election, I am happy to report that the 14th annual Sustainability Awards went off without a hitch. That of course is all due to the wonderful work of our editorial team, events people, sales and production staff as well as the support given to us by our sponsors and corporate partners.

To that I would like to add our wonderful ambassadors who did a magnificent job this year as well as the 2020 Sustainability Awards jury, who once again proved that their expertise is worth a King’s Ransom.

To all the entrants, I would like to personally congratulate you on the level of your entry and also your enthusiasm.

These awards are a testament to not just your skill, but more importantly, your ongoing vision of sustainability in the built environment. So here’s to 2020! – Let’s hope next year will be a better one.

Adrian Wilson Phone: 02 9368 0150 adrian.wilson@architectureanddesign.com.au

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Opinions and viewpoints expressed by interviewees, writers and columnists in Architecture & Design do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher of the magazine.

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The buildings of tomorrow.

The Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) was the first building in Australia fully accredited under the Living Building Challenge (LBC), as well as being the Illawarra’s first six-star Green Star Building. The LBC is arguably the highest built environment sustainability accreditation in the world today with its ambition to encourage buildings to be net zero energy and water, to connect more readily with the natural environment, and provide comfortable and restorative places to live and work.

Located on the University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus, the SBRC not only embodies sustainable design, but is a ‘living’ laboratory for improving building and material design and operation, where researchers and students develop, prototype and test sustainable building technologies and tools for residential and commercial applications.

The ‘high-bay’ roof is divided into two discrete sections using COLORBOND® steel in the colour Surfmist® and COLORBOND® Coolmax® steel. These materials were chosen for their high solar reflectance (low absorptance) and ability to improve the thermal performance of a building.

The building also meets the high standards demanded by the material and waste requirements of the LBC with the BlueScope materials used being manufactured locally and incorporating recycled content. BlueScope is also committed to responsible/sustainable sourcing practices that create, protect and build long term environmental, social and economic value.

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is available for COLORBOND® steel which identifies the environmental impact of the product over its lifecycle. To obtain a copy, please visit steel.com.au/epd. And to find out more information about specifying and building with BlueScope products, please visit steelselect.com.au or call our technical team on 1800 753 658.

Architect: Cox Richardson Architects. Project: Sustainable Buildings Research Centre. Location: North Wollongong, New South Wales. COLORBOND®, BlueScope and the BlueScope brand mark are registered trade marks of BlueScope Steel Limited. © 2020 BlueScope Steel Limited ABN 16 000 011 058. All rights reserved.

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Killing Sydney: Elizabeth Farrelly and her ode to a better city With her book due out early next year, author, architecture critic, essayist, columnist, speaker and bête noire of the Sydney design establishment Elizabeth Farrelly talks about how better city design is not a luxury but an essential part of urban living.

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One Bligh by Ingenhoven, Governor Phillip Tower [Denton Corker Marshall], and Australia Square [Seidler] in its own way. Of course most buildings in New York are ugly too, but there are a few, like the Chrysler Building and the others of that era, and a few contemporary ones, which are fabulous. As much as anything, the difference is about governance.

HM: If you were a Baron Haussmann for Sydney, would you prescribe a certain look?

HAMISH MCDONALD: Looking back on Sydney’s CBD from a ferry going out of Circular Quay, you have to say: What a collection of ugly buildings. Would you agree, and how did it get that way?

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ELIZABETH FARRELLY: Yes, on the whole.

Most buildings in Sydney are ugly, in the city and the suburbs. But you can only expect about one percent of anything to be really good, ever – including buildings. Maybe I have low expectations. Or high standards. But there are half a dozen that you can see from the Quay that are really good: Renzo Piano’s Aurora Place,

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EF: Oh, that’d be fun! Haussmann - that’s a job I could do! But I wouldn’t prescribe a certain look. But what I would strive to do, were I Haussmann, is create the rules that shape the buildings. It’s funny. In the early 20th century Sydney and New York were having the exact same arguments at the exact same time – height, fire, daylight, public health and so on. In Sydney all the arguments were very emotive and illogical.

The arguments in New York were cogent and eloquent. Sydney ended up banning skyscrapers, completely, for 50 years; New York ended up with the 1916 zoning resolution, which wasn’t intended to make beautiful buildings but did.

HM: Why Sydney doesn’t stipulate anything on the aesthetic side?

EF: Well, for 20 years or so Sydney has had that habit of design excellence competitions, but it’s very clubby, and most of the buildings now look similar. There’s that boxy thing, like TV sets, as at Darling Harbour, which I think came out of that Chris Johnson flat-design book

- very brown and white and orthogonal, with a bit of timber and some masonry and some glass, juxtaposed. Then there’s the Richard Francis Jones look which is tall and curvy with a few gimmicky things like timber louvres. But I actually think there shouldn’t be aesthetic intervention in cities. City government should allow the best, and maybe prohibit the worst.

But if you make aesthetic rules everything ends up really mediocre and samey. It’s better to allow the excruciatingly bad in order to permit the occasionally glorious.

HM: You’ve previously said that architecture is the most public of art forms, but the least publicly critiqued. Are architects quick to run to lawyers?

EF: Yes, architects are probably more delicate than most. When I first arrived here, about 30 years ago, everyone was being very careful because the Harry Seidler vs Patrick Cook case and the John Andrews vs Fairfax cases were in everybody’s minds. I’ve never been sued though I’ve been threatened once or twice. I think there are a few reasons for this. One, architects are a kind of guild, reluctant to criticise each other. So there’s a professional press mostly written by and for architects, which is very bland. And there’s the mainstream press that scarcely mentions architecture except as a money-making enterprise. I think most people are intimidated because they think architecture is very technical and architects are very snotty regarding whose views they consider valid. But there’s also a deeper cultural failure: we never

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talk about beauty. Beauty matters to us, and it is architecture’s core business. Everything else - structure, finance, materials – has its own experts. The architect’s only unique function is synthesising it all in a way that is beautiful. Yet this is never discussed, never taught. No one teaches composition.

HM: Going back to the Powerhouse, that really generated a huge backlash all across Sydney, and hasn’t that been saved?

HM: What are your feelings about Barangaroo?

EF: Oh, masses – especially if you include urban design. The potential is huge. At the most obvious level there’s solar panels and on-site rainwater disposal and composting toilets, that sort of stuff. It’s a disgrace we still flush our toilets with drinking water. Then there are much broaderscale opportunities like solar roads, photovoltaic building surfaces, green roofs. I like that Paris rule that requires all roofs to be either green or photovoltaic: either cooling or energy-generating or urban agriculture – or some combination.

Then there’s the bigger, behavioural stuff, like building urban villages, linked by rail but clearly defined against farmland. Ending sprawl. It’s easy. You could simply photocopy the plan of Surry Hills and stamp it out in Blacktown or Campbelltown or Dubbo. It doesn’t need reinvention, and in fact you can’t do it within contemporary rules about road width and setbacks and so on. Traits that our planning regulations have worked for a century to preclude are the very traits that make it beloved. Narrow houses encourage people to dwell in public, sharing the local café, restaurant, library, pool and gym. Low-rise density enables a walking lifestyle. Narrow streets make pedestrians comfortable. And if you prioritise walking and cycling, this way, you inevitably generate mixeduse fabric, because work and shopping, childcare and schools all have to be within cooee of home.

Together, these things create streets as rooms, places people love to live in; neighbourhood. Such neighbourhoods can still sit within a metropolis and because Sydney, like London, is already a collection of villages, it’s made for it.

Elizabeth Farrelly’s book, Killing Sydney; the fight for a city’s soul (Picador Pan MacMillan) is due February 2021.

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EF: Our speed obsession is madness. There’s the fossil fuel thing of course. Climate change. But even if we switched to 100 percent hydrogen cars tomorrow, I’d be critical of motorways because they destroy the city fabric. One reason I fell in love with Sydney, back in the 1970s, was that it had somehow failed to destroy itself with motorways. Auckland, where I grew up, bored ten-lane roads through its centre in the ‘70s and ‘80s and destroyed all the lovely little lane-ways, stone staircases, and unexpected shopping nooks. That’s hard to forgive. It says: We don’t care about the city centre, we’re all in the ‘burbs, we just drive everywhere. The city’s only job is to make money and not impede our thoroughfare. Sydney, for whatever reason, wasn’t like that. It was very money-focused, but still largely intact. So I thought, wow. There are things that count here other than traffic engineering. It wasn’t that there weren’t plans and intentions. All those motorway reserves still exist. Maybe Sydney was just too incompetent to realise them, but recent governments have more than made up for it. Take the huge WestConnex ‘octopus’ at St Peters. It’s disgraceful. Worse still, these motorways are now almost empty.

After the biggest building boom ever, billions of dollars of new office buildings and motorways to feed them, nobody’s using them. It’s almost like

HM: How much sustainability can you put into architecture?

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EF: Oh well, I always thought it should be more like what [former NSW Premier] Bob Carr promised, which was modelled on New York’s Central Park. I thought that’d be great, a park defined by the buildings – really like an enormous room – and integrated with the city fabric. Instead they just made it easy for the developer by chopping off the northern half and calling that park. Plus the design is weak. I told [former Prime Minister] Paul Keating that I didn’t think it would work. You can’t fake rocks; you can’t fake a headland. You can’t fake nature.

And he thought about it for a couple of weeks, then called me and said: I’ve got the word for it – it’s not fake. It’s naturalistic. As though that validated it. But the truth is the label doesn’t

HM: What do you make of Sydney’s craze for spending billions on underground motorways?

EF: Yes, and in principle that’s a good thing, although it, too, was destructive. All those trees destroyed on Anzac Parade, Wansey Road and Devonshire Street – and those enormous tramcars, twice as long as any in the world, terribly slow, and almost empty. No doubt there’s also a bail-out clause that says that when the private operator collapses in three years’ time, we’ll buy it back from them or pay them off. It’s almost as though they said: You want public transport?

We’ll show you how ugly public transport can be.

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HM: What about Paul Keating’s artificial headland?

EF: Well you might argue anything’s wasted on bankers! But in truth, on a site like that, if you leave the choice to developers, it’ll always cater to the rich. Even if you do residences, and there are some, it’ll be rich people who live there. There was all public housing there, back in the day. But that’s been sold off. I’d probably resent it being housing for the rich as much as offices for bankers – not because they’re rich, but because what they do, what they build, is so unimaginative: the same old big apartments, harbour views, big cars, big boats. I think if you have money you have a responsibility to be interesting, to do things that are eccentric or different or glorious. Wealth should demand buildings that create interesting public places, like the Place des Vosges in Paris. Your status shouldn’t depend on the waterline of your fibreglass gin-palace, but on the stature and fabulousness of what you contribute to the civic realm.

HM: But occasionally they throw out a few sops like the Eastern Suburbs Light Rail?

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EF: Oh, I guess it could be worse. Thing is, it could also be a lot better, and it should be better, because it’s on public land. It really exemplifies the disgraceful state of New South Wales planning, which still basically asks developers what they want, then finds a way for them to do it. So the likes of Lendlease do whatever they like, which is a whole lot of clunky buildings, pretend shopping areas and some rather fake streets. It’s all just too polite to be interesting. It doesn’t feel like public space and, to me, it doesn’t feel like Sydney.

HM: Is Barangaroo wasted on bankers?

a morality play being enacted in front of us: you refused to listen, you did all this stuff, and now you’ve destroyed your lovely city for nothing.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

EF: People say so, but I think that was just a pretend back-flip. They were always going to keep a rump of a museum on that site. Even back in 2017 they were talking about a fashion and design museum there. But that’s not the Powerhouse. The Powerhouse centres on that stunning collection of steam machinery. The 1988 scheme even installed a special basement boiler, reticulating the steam to run them. Most of that will go. They’re still planning to sell part of the site – though we don’t know which part.

They’re still packing up the collection, building the facility at Castle Hill, the museum at Parramatta. So what has actually changed?

matter. Fake rocks are still fake rocks. It’s not even the right stone, it’s that horrible figured stuff. So I just think it’s rather boring, and actually slightly embarrassing, slightly tacky.

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Why getting back to nature matters

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Pressure on the environment is increasing and more than ever, there’s a need to dissipate that stress and its effect on our health.

It’s the perfect time to realise the benefits of biophilic design.

It’s a winter’s morning and you’re walking in the park. It’s sunny but cool, the faintest susurration of wind in the trees. It rained overnight, the scents of grass and damp earth strong in the air, and you stop walking for a minute to breathe deeply. In that moment you’re suddenly in touch with everything around you – from the colours of the leaves to the distant bark of a dog to the chill in your lungs as you draw deep.

And somewhere inside you, something… unclenches.

You know the feeling, right? That powerful connection to your surroundings that you only get from the outdoors? If you don’t recognise it, you should probably leave the house more often.

But then, that’s rather the problem right now.

Thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, we’ve spent so much of the past few months indoors that we’re forgetting what the natural world looks like.

In April and May this year– at the height of COVID-related restrictions, when people were forced to remain indoors – mental health organisation Beyond Blue recorded an uptick in calls of 60 percent or more. With Victoria’s return to lockdown in recent weeks, the number of helpline calls has doubled, with fatigue, exhaustion and general distress the trigger.

But even in a relatively normal social climate, where we aren’t driven to the edge by pandemics, studies suggest we spend 90 percent of our time indoors. Disease or no disease, we still suffer the consequences of everything from mental overstimulation to compounding micro-stresses slowly grinding us down. Indeed, one 2010 study showed that almost half of those surveyed operate

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on autopilot, simply disengaging to get through the day, with deleterious consequences to mental health. Imagine how that will have increased with the pressures of the last decade.

Moments spent in nature allow us to be present in the moment in a way regular urban living does not. Finding ourselves hyperaware of our surroundings and their beauty has a relaxing effect; it’s the cornerstone of the idea of Mindfulness that has risen in recognition in recent years. The trick, then, would seem to be translating that feeling of connection to how we live indoors, so reaping the mental and physical health benefits.

And that’s why we look to biophilic design.

To simplify its definition somewhat, biophilic design mimics the experience of nature within an ostensibly unnatural space. It’s bringing the outside in. This is achieved by a whole host of practical design measures, from sensory cues that recall the natural world (employing sights, sounds and even smells that we relate to the great outdoors) to more subtle approaches such as the use of contours, patterns and textures that recall less structured, angled and ordered surroundings. Use of natural materials in the creation of these organic shapes adds another element, while increased air and light increase the peace. One principal of the technique is to introduce mystery to a building, a sense that a space should be explored in order for us to appreciate it fully.

Essentially, we are encouraged to switch off our autopilot.

Biophilia is invaluable in weaving nature into the design process, at every level. From

building façade to carpet selection, from urban design to graphics, all aspects of design have opportunities to learn from nature as a building block, as part of a regenerative design strategy.

Indeed, even before coronavirus took us in its grip, designers were actively exploring biophilic design for its positive effect on emotional wellbeing. Not only that, the tenets of the practice make good sense in terms of sustainability, helps improve employee’s productivity, reduces the amount of sick leave taken per year and heightens the desire to be present.

Biophilia is socially sustainable because it improves physical and mental health. It’s environmentally sustainable as it increases opportunities for biodiversity and can help reduce carbon emissions, using plants and natural materials.

Biophilic design not only helps future-proof spaces by making them more healthy in the event of future lockdowns, it may even assist in limiting further outbreaks. It’s just part of a rethink about how we interact as a species with the planet, with each other, and with the spaces we occupy.

Keeping nature rich, diverse, and flourishing is integral to our life’s support system. The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health.

The health of people and the health of the planet are intertwined, and both should thrive in equal measure.

Yaara Plaves, head of the National Sustainability Forum (NSF) at Hames Sharley

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Some like it hot Tone Wheeler on NatHERS

Principal architect at Environa Studio, Adjunct Professor at UNSW, president of the Australian Architecture Association and well-known columnist for Architecture & Design Tone Wheeler takes a deep-dive into all things NatHERS.

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When the building code introduced energy efficiency standards for thermal comfort in houses 17 years ago, they used a computer program developed by scientists at the CSIRO, called NatHERS. It has a simulation engine called ‘CHENATH’ that could accurately predict internal temperatures against real weather patterns, taken in 23 sites around Australia.

The regulators turned it upside down; instead of showing the internal temperatures, it now measured the energy used to achieve a pre-determined level of comfort. This involved a host of assumptions about the house: how many people in it; how they use it; when they open and close doors and windows; when they turn the air conditioning on and what temperature they want.

THERMAL REGULATIONS

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We have been late to the party to introduce standards for thermal efficiency for buildings, particularly houses. The reasons are numerous and political, too complex to deal with here, except to say that it has often been held back by the construction industry who maintain a primary interest in lower costs rather than better quality.

As part of the federal government’s greenhouse gas reduction strategy, the BCA (later NCC) flagged new standards in 2000, introduced thermal standards for houses in 2003, multiresidential in 2005, and for all other buildings in 2006 in a new ‘Section J’. Regulations are always designed to prevent worst practice rather than

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to promote best practice, and this is never truer than in this messy area.

Importantly for everything that follows, these standards are based on reducing carbonbased energy rather than thermal comfort.

Unlike lighting, ventilation or acoustic standards which address human factors, Section J is primarily about energy efficiency, its first and fundamental failure.

NATHERS When we did get around to addressing thermal standards in houses (and apartments) we adopted an unusual approach. Rather than go for stringent standards for building elements, as we did in Section J for non-residential, we adopted an interactive computer program to determine the optimal standards.

The government’s scheme was called NatHERS (National Housing Energy Rating Scheme) and it promoted the idea that a computer model could analyse the areas where undesirable heat loss and gain could be prevented. Designs could be adjusted against many variables to get the best ‘bang for the buck’ in ensuring thermal performance.

This variable interactive approach was driven by two interests; firstly, the building industry wanted to be able to make trade-offs to reduce the costs; and secondly, it was only possible because Australia, through the CSIRO, had developed one of the world’s best computer programs to analyse thermal comfort. Both issues play a part in the failure of NatHERS.

A HISTORY OF CSIRO THERMAL PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS In 1953, the CSIRO, one of our elite intellectual jewels, started an interest in computer models for thermal comfort in variable climatic conditions.

Roy Muncey, and later John Spencer, developed a seminal computer simulation program called CARE. In the 60s the program changed into STEP (one zone) and then ZSTEP (10 zones).

In the 80s, with desktop computers, Angelo Delsante developed CHEETAH for user calculation of temperatures in buildings. In the 90’s Delsante and Steve Moller from the Victorian Gas and Fuel Corporation developed CHENATH as a basis for the program that was initially called NatHERS (where the S stood for System, not Scheme).

Delsante and Yuguo Li added a natural ventilation method to the model in the late 90s. All the software programs used variable climate conditions, and CHENATH used real weather data gathered by the Bureau of Meterology or BOM. So far, so good.

CHANGING FROM COMFORT TO ENERGY The CSIRO programs were all primarily aimed at an analysis of thermal comfort in a house, not energy use. But the BCA experts realised that this did not give rise to easily digested standards, nor regulations. NatHERS needed to codify the output by expressing it as the energy required to maintain thermal comfort, rather than the thermal comfort itself.

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ACCURATE, BERS AND FIRSTRATE

The stand-off continues unabated. NatHERS is greatly improved, and simulates with thermal mass and ventilation much better, but the assumptions remain. A whole generation of architects have come to loathe NatHERS, or at best, tolerate it.

Having spent 20 years straddling the fence (as a practising architect and Board member of ABSA) I will attempt to heal the rift next week.

If successful, the week after I become Secretary General of the UN.

If thermal comfort is a key aim in designing a house, then the cave is a good model.

Insulated all the way round, high thermal mass to provide a steady internal temperature, minimum openings, minimum air change, and accentuation of keeping warm in winter in particular architects.

If connection to the environment is the aim, then head to the treehouse. Light and airy, lots of views into the connected landscape space dissolved through opening glazed doors, framed by treelike post and beams. Too live at one with the environment, you adapt to it.

The cave is the default position for the majority of Australian housing, a solid box made with selected openings punctuated into the walls, a glazing ratio (of glass to floor area) somewhere between 15 and 25 percent. The European vernacular of a thousand years and Adolf Loos’ ‘Raumplan’ The treehouse is the designed the opposite way: open frames where the choice is where to ‘wall’ it up; and the glazing ratio is 50 to 60 percent. The Asian tradition, Farnsworth, and Le Corbusier’s ‘Plan Libre’.

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WHERE TO NOW?

SCIENTISTS LIKE CAVES; ARCHITECTS LIKE TREEHOUSES

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An accredited assessor enters all the variables of a house design, originally done arithmetically in a spreadsheet, but more recently being

The assumptions within the software were never explained well, indeed they were never explained at all. When NatHERS started in 2003 all hell broke loose. The software was clunky and not always rational, showing glitches in the system.

The scientists had issues.

But that was as nothing compared to architects’ reactions. Angry and confused arguments broke out. For the first time many architects, particularly of lightweight houses, were being told decisively that their designs were not comfortable, but it was expressed in terms of the energy required to run an AC unit.

“We don’t have AC” they protested. Their uber-green credentials prohibited its use. And “our clients love our houses and are totally comfortable” they said without any more scientific POE (Post Occupancy Evaluation) than hearsay.

The two cultures clashed: the scientists could prove that the houses were not thermally comfortable; but in doing so they attacked the credibility of the architects, whose clients delighted in adjusting to a much wider range of ‘comfort’ temperatures, given that the houses were so open and close to nature.

In a crushingly inept bit of PR the scientists ran many of the best AIA ‘award winning’ houses through the various NatHERS programs, and all failed. In return, the architects failed the scientists.

Architects disputed the settings, but then went further: they refuted the very premise of using air conditioning, even if it was virtual. For them AC is the plutonium of architecture. They believe houses can be designed without AC and achieve thermal comfort, but the big question is: “what level of comfort?” For architects it was an irrelevant idea in the face of the connection to the environment in their highly glazed and openable houses.

All scientific evidence of NatHERS says the contrary. It may be ‘natural’, be it doesn’t naturally meet any reasonable comfort levels.

NatHERS shows these houses overheat in summer and are too cold in winter against the program’s defined thermal comfort bands, the ‘standards’. But that may not a concern to architects, who argue it infringes their design freedom to make an interactive house, or to their clients who may enjoy operating the house in response to the surrounding environment and weather.

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HOW DO ACCURATE, BERS AND FIRSTRATE WORK?

NATHERS STARTS

INDIVIDUALITY VERSUS STANDARDISATION

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In the 90s the government, through the BCA experts, opened a ‘market’ for software programs that would meet its desired regulatory approach it now called NatHERS. All would be required to use the CSIRO CHENATH ‘engine’.

In response, the CSIRO created a far better ‘front end’ that had a better user interface, and called it AccuRate, as it is to this day. When tested against 8 other computer software modelling programs in the mid 2000s it showed that AccuRate was amongst the best across various climate simulations.

Two further software programs were developed and are still in use. In Queensland Dr Holger Willrath, as SolarLogic, developed BERS, later BERS Pro, (Building Energy Rating Software) and Sustainability Victoria developed FirstRate, now in its fifth iteration (and no, v.2.0 was not called SecondRate).

In order to ensure that the NatHERS modelling was done accurately and consistently, a system for organisations to train and accredit assessors was established. The two remaining assessor organisations, ABSA and BDAV, are subject to government regulation to ensure standards of competency in its members, that their training and accreditation is assured, in one or more of the three software modules.

done graphically. This establishes the base performance characteristics of the thermal envelope. This virtual house is then run through the CHENATH program, which uses real weather data to analyse its performance.

All three programs analyse what temperatures can be expected in a typical year of weather inside all the habitable and non-habitable rooms of that house, but not the semi-enclosed external areas. It runs a ‘virtual air conditioner’, with an assumed performance rating, and measures how much energy could be expected to be used to achieve the assumed thermal comfort. ‘Bands’ of anticipated energy use are established, and a design can be benchmarked against the bands to give ‘Star Ratings’.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Crucially, this led to several key assumptions.

Firstly, they standardised the weather into 23 ‘climatic zones’, shown in a map, the only diagram in colour in the NCC. Secondly, they assumed a desirable internal temperature range in habitable rooms during the seasons (ignoring the PMV – see here), and that there would be an air conditioner in habitable rooms to achieve those desirable temperatures.

Thirdly they assumed a standardised occupancy and when those occupants would want the assumed levels of thermal comfort (or not), during the week / weekend. They also assumed that the occupants would be interactive with the house and would open and close windows for ventilation and curtains for insulation in accordance with passive solar design principles.

In this way they had standardised the inputs so that the energy required to maintain that ‘idealised thermal comfort’ could be made, and the program’s output could be expressed in numerous ways: total kWh, kWh per square metre, or ‘stars’. And those levels could be adjusted over time to raise standards.

THE ’ESKY’ VS THE TENT By far the majority of our houses have relatively low glazing ratios. Project homes are designed with modest amounts of windows and doors because they are the most expensive elements.

And NatHERS seeks to make them into a better ‘Esky’: insulation in the walls and roofs; restricted glazing as the ‘thermal wound in the

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envelope skin’; the most propitious orientations to winter sun, and away from the summer heat; thermal mass and minimum air changes; and no project home these days is sold without some form of AC package.

The occupants are happy to have a sealed-up house, giving acoustic and visual privacy, with AC for dialled-up comfort. NatHERS works well on these ‘Eskies’ and caves, the virtual air conditioner spits out a high score and approval for such a house, giving them a high number of stars. The scientists are on the side of the 95 percent.

On the other hand, some architects want the opposite: the well-heeled tent to enjoy being close to nature and environment. High glazing ratios capable of maximum interaction with its surroundings; multi-stacking or bi-fold glass opening from the inside to the outside. Architects intuitively believe that the house is comfortable because it can be infinitely adjusted for comfort.

Occupants of these ‘tents’ accommodate the higher temperatures in summer because the doors are open and they’re in/outside.

Extra layers of clothes keep them warm to compensate for the cold in winter. NatHERS struggles here: no amount of high-performance glazing can bring it down to a level where AC can be energy efficient. The house can never achieve the levels of thermal comfort in an airconditioned cave, not without extraordinarily excessive energy use.

RESOLVING THE CULTURE CLASH

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Architecture and Science. I am reminded of Henry Cowan, inaugural professor the Department of Architectural Science at The University Sydney who thought those two words oxymoronic and called his autobiography A Contradiction In Terms. Nevertheless, I think there are three ways forward.

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HYBRID HOUSES IN NATHERS

NO NATHERS, JUST BIGGER BILLS

Scientists need a way to measure ‘hybrid’ houses in NatHERS. Many architects’ houses are brilliant in Spring and Autumn without AC, the house being turned into some form of extended veranda. And this part of the house should be exempt from NatHERS if no AC other than ceiling fans is fitted. If these areas are modelled in NatHERS for temperature, as originally intended, the scientists will see their value in the changeover seasons.

But architects will have to accept that a part of the house will have to meet NatHERS standards (and thus fitted with AC), at least as insurance against global warming. The house has the best of both worlds.

If energy efficiency is the main aim, I would radically change energy costs. Equity would come from a stepped energy bill: a small amount is free, and then each block of energy gets exponentially more expensive.

Let’s assume that 33 percent of the average bill has no charge. A baseline of energy is supplied free to everybody, like a universal wage. The socially waged, the frugal, the careful can run a house very effectively without cost. Above that charges are levied, say the next 33 percent costs the total of the current average bill, an incentive to save. And then the charges increase dramatically. Above the average energy amount, the energy price doubles, and then quadruples.

The increasing costs encourage something to be done about the existing poorly designed houses, and to improve new ones. There is an incentive to either improve the thermal performance or install photovoltaics cells.

Either way, the intention is to show the importance of energy efficiency, as well as air quality and thermal comfort.

CHANGE NATHERS INTO SIMPLER REGULATIONS Alternatively, we could have simpler, but very stringent, regulations with insulation or resistance values for each part of the house, as in Section J for other building classes. The whole roof might have to reach a value of, say 4, and each wall, all the solid and glazed elements, might have to reach a standard of say 1.5. Only achievable if the glazing is reduced in area, or much higher performance than is currently used.

The designs are flexible, and the architect designed house is possible, but not without raising the quality of the framing and the performance of the glazing, to meet a higher overall standard. The key here is to simplify the science so architects can understand it: no black box, but rather numerical values for the parts and elements of design that architects understand. It may cause architects to reflect on whether glazing ratios of 60 percent are still viable at the increased performance cost, or maybe 30 percent will do at half the cost.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND COVID-19 An improved NatHERS is beautifully placed to address the two big issues of our times: climate change and Covid-19. Increasingly, trapped in our homes, we want to be comfortable, but we need to reduce our energy use, to lower CO2.

Maybe the time is right to revisit NatHERS, to build a hybrid model, to make it more accessible to science-averse architects, and to change our energy billing. Time to improve our 8 million existing homes, and the 220,000 we build each year.

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WORDS PETER HOGG

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

How the pandemic is forcing change in the architecture industry

/ NEWS

We should start looking at this city – Melbourne – and consider whether we actually want these ultra high-rise buildings which will be around for decades to come. Anyone who believes more density is always good and that 25sqm apartments, 40 stories in the air are ideal living conditions should consider how they would feel if they were stuck in one of them. We’ve gone too far down this route; and we need to rethink our approach to development.

We need to reset the system, and we’re being handed the opportunity and time now to look at how we can do better. The European model of development, with medium-rise buildings and more generosity to the size of apartments, would be a step in the right direction for me.

Being a hands-on, practical institute, many people thought it was a given that Melbourne Polytechnic would just shut down temporarily when the COVID-19 lockdown took hold.

As Head of Program for Bachelor of Built Environment, I thought “no, we have to do this, we have a duty to honour our commitment to our students”. So, we responded to the need to be flexible and explored new possibilities in order to make the transition to remote learning.

Though we’ve managed surprisingly well, this unprecedented change was accompanied by downsides. All the incidental and casual contact

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The wider architecture industry would be wise to sit up and take note that this is prime time to consider making long-overdue changes.

In terms of how the repercussions of coronavirus will impact the profession, an increase in working from home across all industries will likely mean we don’t require all of the real estate we’ve been building – lessening the need for big new road projects in turn. For me, this is a good thing. The way many people talk about construction is that more is always better and that rising housing prices are somehow a good thing. This is reason for concern, as it means a lot of people find themselves in housing distress; they can’t afford mortgages or rent, and we have rising numbers of people living on the streets. This not a measure of success.

It is high time that the whole speculative approach to development is critically reexamined. The ‘bigger is better’, ‘denser is better’ approach is deeply flawed. The push that is coming our way now for state government to look at provision of lots more social housing is a very positive thing. It is something we’ve neglected for decades. It’s time to stop stalling and just do it.

The development and construction industry is currently driven by speculation and the dollar.

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A fellow architect and educator made a remark recently that architectural education has broadly been the same for 200 years. What a feat it has been, then, to adapt and turn the whole thing on its head in the space of two weeks after COVID-19 lockdown was announced in March.

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We need to reset the system, and we’re being handed the opportunity and time now to look at how we can do better.

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we have with students has been taken away.

We have to work extra hard to keep some students engaged in the course and in the community we’re trying to build.

Most notably of all though – as an architect and teacher of budding architects – has been the challenge of fostering creative energy. As a discipline somewhere between art and science, nurturing this is crucial to us achieving our potential. I like to create learning environments where my students can feed off each other’s creativity and energy; that’s not easy to mimic through online course delivery.

It’s been a testing few months, but what we’ve learned about how to deliver remote learning, and its potential, will benefit architectural education for a long time to come. We’ve proven that remote learning works, students can remain productive and, in fact, this style of learning even suits some subjects and some students’ lifestyles. A mixed model of face-to-face and remote course delivery will be something we may look at implementing permanently in the future.

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Providing students with flexible learning options is only going to be a positive. It’s a matter of equity. Testament to this is a promising prospective student of the course who lives in Wodonga. Coming to campus in Epping three days a week would be too much.

Other students have school aged kids, and in the past if the kids were sick they missed class.

Now, with remote learning, they don’t have to miss out. If we can offer the possibility of partly completing the course online, it would immediately become much more accessible.

The current situation is also forcing us to provide more learning resources online.

This year, we’re looking into hosting a digital exhibition, which will allow us to promote the course to audiences anywhere in the world. This helps level the playing field as we’re effectively showcasing our work in the same space as any big name international university.

The education sector has proven how adaptable it can be and will benefit if it learns the lessons from the pandemic. The architectural profession would be wise to do the same.

ABOVE Phtoto by bantersnaps on Unsplash

Peter Hogg has been in the architecture profession for 35 years. Now Head of Program for the Bachelor of Built Environment course at Melbourne Polytechnic, he shares how he managed to maintain connections with his students as they suddenly transitioned to remote learning during the coronavirus lockdown, and how he thinks the wider profession could benefit from learnings during this time.

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P R O M O T I O N F E AT U R E

Pandemic beckons new era of touch-free workplaces

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In order to get the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave to market within six months, Zip Water Innovation Manager, Kevin Moult, says the company drew on industry-leading techniques to develop a firstof-its kind solution using in-house proprietary sensor technology to deliver a Minimum Viable Product and prototype in record time.

“By using advanced manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing and rapid prototyping, we were able to achieve our first viable prototype in half the usual time.

“The biggest challenge we faced was fitting four infrared sensors into the tap head, which only has a diameter of 4.5cm, so that they didn’t intersect and confuse commands. If you think about other contactless technology, like sensor-driven handwashing or toilet flushing systems, they only need to fit one or two sensors into a much, much bigger space, and they’re usually all facing the same direction.

“We were also able to develop an innovative solution to deliver a contactless version of the boiling water safety lock found in all classic HydroTaps. We created the twin sensor activation command so that boiling water is only dispensed once two of the four sensors are engaged, which can be done only through a very intentional motion. This solution provides a fool-proof contactless answer to the boiling water safety lock and protects against workplace injury as a result of scalding, all while still avoiding contact,” said Mr Moult.

A & D X zi p wat e r

With employers on the look-out for new ways to create COVID-safe workplaces, Zip Water has created the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave, a contactless version of its flagship HydroTap that will be available across Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) this December, and New Zealand in early 2021.

According to a global survey conducted in July by market researchers Qualtrics, 74% of people working remotely through COVID-19 want employers to focus on taking action to make them feel confident about returning to work.

Furthermore, research conducted by commercial fit-out specialists, Aston, states a person will come into contact with 43 different touchpoints on an average workday including the door to enter the building, the printer and the office coffee machine. This has left employers scrambling to find new ways to create contactless workplaces to minimise the possibility of transmission.

Zip Water’s new HydroTap Touch-Free Wave is one such contactless solution that will help employers create COVID-safe workplaces.

The company’s much-loved HydroTap, which delivers instant boiling, chilled and sparkling water at the touch of a button, is already a fixture in many workplaces in Australia and around the world.

Zip Water Marketing and Strategy Director for Australia and New Zealand, Mike Abbott, says the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave was

developed to meet new emerging needs both in Australia and overseas.

“Back in April, we started to receive enquires from some of our existing domestic customers asking whether we offered a contactless version of our HydroTap. When we received requests from our two key domestic specifiers in New South Wales and Queensland, who said many Australian workplaces were approaching them for contactless solutions, we knew we had to get something to the market quickly.

“In response we conceived, designed and developed the HydroTap Touch-Free Wave.

Since April, we have had over 40 enquiries from existing domestic commercial customers before it’s even hit the market.

“We’ve also received enquiries from international customers for contactless HydroTaps for their offices located in countries including the United States, China, Singapore, Germany and Italy. We’re generating such significant early interest because workplaces worldwide need to show they can be COVIDsafe and there’s nothing else like it on the market.

“We’re proud of how quickly we’ve been able to develop the product, which delivers a real solution to a real-world problem. From initial concept to the first installation set for December, we’ve been able to get the product to market within six months – a process that would normally take up to a year.

“The HydroTap Touch-Free Wave will be available across Australia, New Zealand and the UK from December and rolled out to other international markets early next year,” said Mr Abbott.

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Zip Water launches first-of-its kind contactless solution to aid employers in mission to be COVID-safe.

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Two Sheds WORDS BEN SHIELDS ARCHITECT DREAMER PHOTOGRAPHY RORY GARDINER

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Two Sheds is located on 25 acres of bush in the hills immediately to the west of the Lorne township, Victoria, Australia. It is a retreat allowing the clients to disconnect from the world of city, noise, and work as they come together to reconnect and begin a 30-year project to rejuvenate the surrounding bushland.

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Verandas line the hill and ocean sides of the buildings, mediating the sun and providing a deep threshold, from inside to out.

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The project uses a minimal material palette and a simple design language drawing from local cottages, agricultural buildings and Australian vernacular. It provides a backdrop for cherished family experiences as the inhabitants slow down, notice and engage with the simple joys of living.

The site was purchased by Roger and Jane Nelson in 2010. Roger is Managing Director of NH Architecture and over the course of the next 7 years he and Jane designed a house and obtained a planning permit for the site.

This process was time consuming and difficult as the site had a bush fire management overlay and required an assessment and management plan to establish the required BAL rating and consequent defendable space.

Dreamer was engaged to contribute an interior design scheme for the project in 2017.

We undertook a number of meetings and design workshops at the client’s Melbourne home, hearing about the project and slowly understanding how they liked to live.

Through these workshops and discussions, we heard a heard a story about escapism, about working outdoors, about a cottage or shed on a rural property. We asked ourselves and the client what it meant to leave the city on the weekend.

This was to be a bush retreat, but more a house to challenge the inhabitants, a house that defines a certain way of living. Physical escapism through being in a different place/ experience and but escapism of identity through the different actions and activities not present during day to day life.

Through this process Dreamer was ultimately engaged to develop a new concept for the complete house. We began by working with the client to narrow down the key things that the house had to do well and started to jettison what was non-essential.

The crystal-clear zoning between the private sleeping areas and public social spaces was to be retained from the original design and importantly, this house needed to work as well for 2 as for 7 people (and have room to grow with additional grandchildren).

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LOTUS TOWER HVAC SOLUTION BACKGROUND Applied Air Services, an air conditioning specialist based in the Brisbane suburb of Geebung, commenced work on Lotus Tower in March 2019. A luxury villas apartment and penthouse development, Lotus Tower is located in the highly sought-after suburb of Kangaroo Point.

OUTCOME The Lotus Tower project required the installation of 54 outdoor units and 533 indoor units. During installation not one of them had a fault, error or gas leak which is a testament to the quality of the product and the installation quality.

The complex features an extensive range of residential amenities including a rooftop sun deck and spa, swimming pool, dedicated yoga space, a golf simulator and children’s play areas, as well as high-end residential villa-style apartments, penthouses and townhouses.

With power apportioning managing the systems energy usage, the building management can extract reports regarding the allocation of energy usage to understand where there is wastage, and where savings can be made.

THE PROJECT

A Fujitsu General ducted air conditioning system was installed in each townhouse, providing zone control and individual system management.

The 24 storey Lotus Tower complex consists of four levels of basement and 19 levels of apartments, with level 20 the penthouse floor. There are an additional 12 townhouses detached from the main tower. Common areas within the precinct include a gym, golf simulator, reception and private dining area.

Applied Air Services was required to meet the individual heating, cooling and air flow requirements of all residential and commercial tenancy, as well as the building’s shared amenities.

CHALLENGES Managing power allocation for each tenancy was a requirement of the chosen HVAC system. The Fujitsu General VRF solution enabled this to be implemented due to its power apportioning feature. All the Lotus Tower indoor units are powered from a local distribution point from the apartment, and the building has watt hour meters, monitoring the power used for all the outdoor units. Software converts power meter usage into a percentage for each tenant.

A Fujitsu General VRF heat recovery system was installed in the main tower. Applied Air used bulkhead fan coil units connected to multiple RB units located in the corridor. The bulkhead fan coil units were chosen for the compact size and internal drain pumps.

The basement received CO (carbon monoxide) controlled ventilation which allows system sensors to level the CO produced by vehicles in the basement and operates ventilation fans to reduce the amount of CO, a new standard practice in the industry.

“Fujitsu was the preferred choice over competitors with its five-year warranty as standard. I also have peace of mind with securing manufacturer parts and labour warranty.” Jeff Mann, Applied Air Services.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW PRODUCTS:

VRF HEAT RECOVERY VRF HEAT PUMP DUCTED SYSTEMS WALL HUNG SPLIT SYSTEMS

QTY OF INDOOR UNITS:

519 X VRF 12 X DUCTED UNITS (LHTDP) 2 X WALL HUNG SPLIT SYSTEMS

QTY OF OUTDOOR UNITS: 35 X VR-II 4 X J-IIS 1 X J-IIIL

CENTRAL CONTROLLER:

SYSTEM CONTROLLER (UTY-APGXZ1) WITH POWER APPORTIONMENT (UTY-PEGXZ1)

SEPARATION TUBES:

44 X 4 PORT RB UNITS 23 X SINGLE PORT RB UNITS 391 X SEPARATION TUBES

TOTAL SYSTEM CAPACITY: 1271.9KW OF CONDENSER COOLING CAPACITY

FUJITSU GENERAL AUSTRALIA • 1 Telopea Place, Eastern Creek NSW 2766 • T 02 8822 2500 • W fujitsugeneral.com.au

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ABOVE & LEFT The crystal-clear zoning between the private sleeping areas and public social spaces was to be retained from the original design and importantly, this house needed to work as well for 2 as for 7 people (and

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have room to grow with additional grandchildren).

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Requirements included places for social interaction and places of quiet reflection, spaces for connecting outdoors, as well as a house that would provide a base from which to work in the bush. We workshopped 3 iterations of the plan, each reducing the footprint in size and helping us to put ourselves and the client in the space. The client contributed a beautiful axonometric sketch that helped to solidify the form of the project. The original design had been a larger home of 500+sqm with the new concept more compact 220sqm.

Views to the hills and beach, privacy and constructability had all been carefully balanced in siting of the previous design. In addition, the clients and design team wanted to avoid any further time spent in town-planning and the original location was kept.

Two almost identical but mirrored gableroofed timber lined sheds, compose the public and private zones of the house, with the timber externally charred and raw within. The forms are separate but remain connected internally

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via a glazed gallery and externally via a terrace and path. They align with existing contours and are consequently cranked to face away from each other, increasing privacy to sleeping shed and bedrooms.

Verandas line the hill and ocean sides of the buildings, mediating the sun and providing a deep threshold, from inside to out. Importantly these have also become great informal social spaces for a drink and chat.

The verandas, expressed rafters and roof eaves are reminiscent of Australian typologies such as the cottage and shed and similar elements are can be found on buildings nearby.

The social/living shed to the west is an open space occupied by a dark central box housing the kitchen, laundry, WC and living joinery.

This box creates two volumes at either end of the shed forming the kitchen/meals areas and living/lounge. These are distinct spaces but still connected. Conversely the sleeping shed is divided repeatedly, creating compact bedroom and bathroom spaces, connected via a corridor

to the south. A concrete wall in the living space necessary for bracing became an opportunity for a long shelf/seat and spot for a wood heater.

In the sleeping quarters the zoning, seamless sliding and pivot doors and increased acoustic control through timber-clad blockwork walls all work hard to create intimate, quiet spaces, secluded but still connected to bush and ocean.

The bathrooms are intentionally located within the building, with low ceilings that release into full height shower spaces, lit by skylights. They are experientially different to the rest of the house as the soft light and cementitious render highlight the timber materiality present elsewhere.

A loose court is present on the hill side of the house, created by the retaining wall, main house and carport/future bungalow. This space has been left open to change as the family’s needs grow in the future.

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P R O M O T I O N F E AT U R E

Ensuring Compliance for Under Slab Insulation: A Specifier’s Guide

I N S U L AT I O N . C O M . A U / A & D X F letcher /

Background to Changes to the NCC Insulation products must comply with the Group Number as determined by AS5637.1, which requires product testing in accordance with the AS ISO 9705 standard full room fire test with the material on the ceiling and three walls of the test room. Previously, some insulation products were only tested in their intended applications (e.g. ceiling applications for soffit insulation).

As of May 2019, it is non-compliant to supply products into a soffit insulation application without the appropriate Group Number as determined by the updated standard.

The AS ISO 9705 test involves a propane burner emitting a heat output of 100 kW for

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10 minutes, and 300 kW for an additional 10 minutes. The test also analyses combustion gases and smoke production. To achieve a Group 1 rating, the material must not reach flashover during the test.

Avoiding Non-compliant Products Specifying Group 1 insulation products wherever possible is the most efficient path to compliance. Such products offer the highest-rated fire performance in the widest range of applications, which can save lives in a fire emergency.

Specifiers should validate any product performance claims and ensure testing has been carried out by an accredited laboratory.

Rigid Glasswool Board For Under (Suspended) Slab Soffit Applications Rigid glasswool board is ideal for under (suspended) slab applications as it achieves a Group 1 rating in accordance with AS5637.1 and is non-combustible. It also offers the

following benefits: • lightweight and flexible; • excellent thermal resistance (reduces energy costs); • excellent acoustic performance; and • sustainable (made predominantly of recycled materials).

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Following changes to AS5637.1:2015 Determination of fire hazard properties: Wall and ceiling linings in the updated National Construction Code (NCC) of 2016, specifiers should look out for non-compliant insulation stock that may still be in circulation.

Fletcher Insulation With over 90 years’ experience in insulation technology, Fletcher Insulation provides high performance thermal and acoustic insulation solutions to the Australian architecture industry.

The company’s Pink Thermal Slab is an under slab soffit insulation solution manufactured from up to 80% recycled content. This rigid glasswool board product is ideal for commercial under slab soffit applications where thermal properties are pivotal and provides excellent fire performance, achieving Group 1 fire classification.

DOWNLOAD THE WHITEPAPER bit.ly/Fletcher_20Q4

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P R O M O T I O N F E AT U R E

NETWORKARCHITECTURAL.COM.AU

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A & D X N etwor k A rchitect u ral

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O C T- D E C 2 0 2 0

The truth & safety of world class aluminium composite panels

Following the catastrophic Lacrosse and Grenfell tower fires, the spotlight turned onto the use of aluminium composite cladding across Australia.

However, the media failed to clarify that “aluminium composite cladding” is an umbrella term for a range of cladding products, and that the fire risk actually derived from the cladding’s flammable polyethylene core.

Other composite cladding products, such as mineral core aluminium composite cladding, have numerous architectural benefits while being non-combustible and compliant with the National Construction Code (NCC).

Compliance With two layers of aluminium sheeting, adhesive layers totalling 0.1mm and a noncombustible core, mineral core aluminium composite meets the Deemed-to-Satisfy requirements for bonded laminated materials in C1.9(e) of the NCC and is safe for use as cladding. This has been determined by fire performance testing under AS1530.1-1994 and AS5113-2016.

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Thermal Conductivity Mineral core aluminium composite offers a thermal conductivity of 0.4 W/m-K, which

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outperforms solid aluminium. It provides an excellent temperature barrier between the interior and exterior of a building.

Flatness Mineral core aluminium composite utilises thin sheets of aluminium that are tightly bonded to the core, providing excellent flatness and rigidity. It is less subject to the material instabilities of 3mm thick, solid aluminium, which can cause oil canning.

Ease of Installation Common cladding materials such as concrete or glass are heavy and difficult to use.

Aluminium composite panels that are NCCcompliant are a safe, lightweight alternative.

Durability Die-coated cladding provides excellent durability and improved colour control. For composite cladding, a warranty in excess of 20 years is appropriate.

Warranty Consider who is backing the warranty, its scope, any hidden clauses and the credentials of the manufacturer.

Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ NC Non-Combustible Cladding Supplied exclusively throughout Australia by Network Architectural, Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ NC Non-combustible mineral core aluminium composite cladding is an ideal choice for designers and specifiers who are looking for a balance of excellent fire safety, functionality, and versatile aesthetic. Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ NC panels contain zero polyethylene and come with a 20-year warranty guaranteed by the globally-trusted Mitsubishi with no built-in maintenance requirements.

The architectural benefits of Mitsubishi ALPOLIC™ panels include: • non-combustible, polyethylene-free mineral core; • easy tooling and fabrication; • excellent rigidity and flatness; • superior thermal performance; and • durable 3-coat die-coated finish.

DOWNLOAD THE WHITEPAPER bit.ly/NetworkArch_20Q4

30/10/20 12:22 pm

Leading the market in firesafe aluminium composite cladding Non-combustible aluminium composite panels when tested to AS1530.1

Exclusive to Network Architectural

Putting your safety first

Characterised by high rigidity, lightweight, excellent flatness, easy to cut and fabricate

Suited to both external and internal applications

Manufactured in Japan by globally trusted Mitsubishi

ALPOLIC™ is a world leader in performance coatings

Enjoy peace of mind with a Mitsubishi warranty.

Phone: 13 71 75 Email: info@networkarchitectural.com.au networkarchitectural.com.au

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WORDS ERIN CASEY ARCHITECT KOICHI TAKADA ARCHITECTS PHOTOGRAPHY TOM FERGUSON

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The Calibre of Koichi Takada

Naturally-crafted and perfectly-placed, Calibre connects seamlessly with the surrounding context and nature, offering a rare sense of ‘place’.

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Every space, every detail showcases an intimate relationship between form and function.

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Nestled within Sydney’s city fringes, Calibre sets a new benchmark in luxury inner-city living. Comprising 18 elegantly designed residences, Calibre offers a new sanctuary, welcomed by residents seeking out more lifestyle apartments that offer community living, a refined luxury and places to socialise, relax and unwind.

Located at 10-14 Cooper Street, Surry Hills, Calibre offers a view of Sydney’s skyline from the penthouse and communal rooftop including a pool and lounge area. Residents enjoy 360-degree views of the city as well as beautifully landscaped gardens to provide a retreat from the city—a haven to enjoy with friends and family.

The organic architecture at street level takes cues from Principal Architect Koichi Takada’s Japanese heritage and leaves a lasting impression on those passing by. Calibre’s undulating glass and timber screened façade is reminiscent of a forest amongst the neighbouring buildings and

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at night, becomes a sculptural lantern of visual intrigue. A thoughtful design approach blurs the lines between inside and out, creating a perfectly balanced retreat from city life.

Every space, every detail showcases an intimate relationship between form and function.

Intelligent planning and floor-to-ceiling glazing really work to bring the outside, in. Slatted screening and barely-there glass create both openness and privacy. Deep balconies serve as outdoor rooms, amplifying the sense of space, while expansive living and dining areas are filled with light and simple elegance.

“Calibre is a boutique residential apartment in Sydney’s Surry Hills that speaks to the natural landscape, becoming an extension of the London Plane tree canopy. The design of the building is a response to the trees which typically shade the streets and terraces beneath, opening up a new dialogue above the tree-tops.

Calibre invites residents to connect with nature, as if living in a Treehouse,” says Koichi Takada.

Nature is apparent in every detail of Calibre’s design, providing a naturally focused contrast to the urban streetscape. Overall the project provides a lightness and openness that enriches and regenerates the surrounding context yet is balanced with occupant privacy.

The tight nature of the site also required intelligent planning to achieve maximum floor areas within the residential apartments, with deep balconies amplifying the sense of space.

Earthy and natural finishes were handpicked to further inject richness and personality into the interiors. Residents also enjoy 360-degree views of Sydney’s skyline on top of the rooftop—the inclusion of a pool, lounge area and recreational facilities further accentuating this project as an urban oasis.

The site presented challenges right from the beginning – 311m2 site footprint, two of four boundaries being inaccessible, a 25m height restriction, and a strict council (City of Sydney) that was not keen on compromising.

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Koichi Takada Architects (KTA) was appointed

by ICON Oceania to meet these challenges and come up with a design that would render the development feasible. KTA’s organic design, underpinned by two eye-catching, undulating facades on street frontages, convinced council that ‘’design excellence’’ was achieved.

The single set of fire stairs enabled the project to maximise the use of available FSR, whilst the permeable façade infuses the interiors with light and air to create highly desirable habitable spaces – ‘open’ and private at the same time, blurring the lines between inside and outside.

The artistic design response in turn created other challenges, particularly from a fire safety perspective. These challenges include addressing fire egress, fire separation between floors and fire compliance of building materials (aluminium

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battens were used for the facades). Recognising this, ICON Oceania and project manager, Root Partnerships brought D&C builder, Construction Profile into the team to overcome these design challenges and to contribute in value engineering initiatives. Close collaboration between developer, architect, project manager and the builder enabled all of the issues relating to design, cost and time to be resolved efficiently.

“Calibre was delivered in a highly proactive and collaborative environment. Every key member of the project team shared their knowledge freely and efficiently. The end result has surpassed the project’s design intent and vision, as it is highly gratifying to see the passing public stopping to admire the building, and the knowledge that buyers are proud to call Calibre home,” says KTA.

OPPOSITE & ABOVE Calibre’s message is one of effortless simplicity. Intelligent planning and floor-toceiling glazing really work to bring the outside, in.

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20/10/20 5:27 pm

Recently, a well-known architect lamented that, sustainability is a “very loose term that can be interpreted lots of different ways”.

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The 2020 Sustainability Digital Awards Gala

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While this holds some truth, the way I like to look at sustainability in the built sector is a process that continually lowers the damage humans inflict on the planet. While some out there may claim that it is possible to inflict no damage at all yet still live in the same relatively wealthy way we do, I contend that is a utopian ideal that in itself, is quite unrealistic and frankly, unsustainable.

If the building and design sector can develop designs, materials and processes to continually minimise our carbon footprint while keeping our standard of living at similar levels, then we have gone a long way to change our pattern of behaviour that to date has had some catastrophic consequences.

And as many others have said, this process is a marathon and not a sprint, with the end results being that all of humanity gets to win a prize at the end.

So as mentioned, these are our 14th annual awards, making these awards the longest running built industry awards in Australia.

And while Architecture & Design has been running the Sustainability Awards for the past 14 years, this year - 2020 - I’m sure you’ll all agree, is possibly the most unusual year most if not all of us of us have experienced to date.

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To say that 2020 has brought with it a range of unique challenges would quite frankly be an understatement of global proportions. It will be a year that I think all of us will remember for the rest of our lives.

I am honoured to mark the 14th time that we have brought you what has become Australia’s premier sustainability awards and conference for our diverse built environment. This year, we saw over 250 entries submitted with a quality and passion of submission that quite honestly, I have not encountered in previous years.

Our shortlist of 85 finalists contains what is best described as the ‘cream of the crop’ and as you will soon see, are buildings that have been designed to ensure that the built industry’s carbon footprint - one of the largest of all sectors - can be thoroughly minimised.

The 16 winners should also be comfortable in the knowledge that they are both icons of sustainability and trailblazers in the effort to reduce both human-generated waste and to ensure a better, brighter future for generations to come.

To sum up, these awards would not be possible without the help and work with a large number of people. Firstly, I’d like to thank the 2020 Sustainability Digital Awards Gala partners and

sponsors – especially our event partner Alspec who have been great to work with and a huge help during these tough times.

TO OUR CATEGORY PARTNERS Alspec Autex BDAA Caroma Fairview Architectural GECA Global Greentag International Interface Knauf RMS Traders Stormtech Tasmania Timber TPS Verosol Woven Image A huge thank you from the whole team here at Architecture & Design magazine. Without you, these awards would not be possible, so thank you for all your support.

BRANKO MILETIC, EDITOR

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Ambassadors

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Natasha Mulcahy is the Sustainability & Engagement manager for West Village, the $1 billion urban regeneration project by Sekisui House Australia, and in 2019 became the inaugural winner of the Women in Sustainability award.

For the past 15 years Mulcahy has worked across government and private industry, with a focus on delivering property projects with triple bottom line outcomes. Her experience includes the site acquisition and strategic planning for a new university campus, planning for sustainability and community infrastructure in urban growth precincts, and driving shared value through urban renewal.

Through her role at West Village, she has been instrumental in precinct sustainability planning and has driven ambitious initiatives, resulting in a 6 Star Green Star Communities rating for the development – the highest recognition for a master-planned precinct in Australia.

HY William Chan is the 2019 winner of the Future Sustainability Leader award and has a passion for innovating our cities and communities. Chan has designed for Cox Architecture, Hassell, Arup Foresight and Innovation, and the Australian Government Department of the Environment.

An outspoken advocate, Chan is a Forbes ’30 Under 30’ innovator and TEDx speaker. His sustainable development projects have been showcased across 40 cities. This year, he was inducted into the Australian of the Year Honour Roll, named as one of Pro Bono Australia’s top 25 most influential Australians in the social sector, and features in the Qantas Centenary publication of ‘100 Inspiring Australians’.

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(top right), Nicci Leung (bottom right).

NATASHA MULCAHY Sustainability & Engagement Manager, Sekisui House Australia

HY WILLIAM CHAN Fellow, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

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ABOVE Natasha Mulcahy (left), HY William Chan

These Ambassadors are not only leaders in their field, they are at the same time, veritable icons of the industry who have each contributed in their own unique way in helping and promoting sustainability and a better environmental outcome for all.

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For the first time in its 14-year history, the Sustainability Awards had ambassadors to help promote what has become Australia’s largest and most popular sustainability event for the built industry.

NICCI LEUNG Founder and Facilitator, Lifepod Evolution Creator and Design Lead, The Lifepod Project Nicci Leung began her career providing design and project services to the discerning Clients of two of the most highly regarded architectural and interior design practices in Melbourne. As her interests broadened, Leung’s career evolved to embrace the incredible potential for innovation that new and emerging technologies offered.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Ambassadors

Lifepod Evolution facilitates exploration and experimentation for clients and collaborators.

Combining her passions for design, innovation and technology, Leung assembles multidisciplinary teams to ‘prototype’ pathways and solutions that inspire constructive change; putting the needs of our people and our planet front and centre and rethinking the way we design, build and live.

Leung’s vision for the future is a positive one and involves Australian talent in across sector collaboration to create real solutions to the many challenges and complexities associated with increasing population and urbanization across the globe.

on ABC Radio Melbourne. He’s championed Indigenous led design thinking for over 25 years, including as co-founder of Indigenous Architecture + Design Victoria, as co-author of the International Indigenous Design Charter, and as Regional Ambassador (Oceania) of INDIGO (International Indigenous Design Network). He’s a founding signatory of Architects Declare Australia an initiative foregrounding architecture’s role in to tackling the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, is co-curator (with Tristan Wong) of the Australian exhibition at La Biennale Architettura di Venezia 2020 and is a recent 2020 DIA Hall of Fame inductee.

CHRISTIAN HAMPSON Co-founder and Director (Woiwurrung | Maneroo), Yerrabingin

JOHN GERTSAKIS Sustainability | Stewardship | Advocacy | Communications, Cambium Communications

Christian Hampson is a proud Woiwurrung and Maneroo Aboriginal man interweaving Indigenous tacit knowledge and collaborative design thinking to walk a new path, away from conventional approaches. Yerrabingin has launched the world’s first Indigenous rooftop farm in 2019, located high above Sydney on the roof of Yerrabingin House in South Eveleigh with over 2,500 Australian native plants.

Yerrabingin also won the Public & Urban category in our 2019 Awards.

John Gertsakis is an experienced sustainability, policy and communications practitioner across diverse industries, sectors and portfolios. He operates at the highest levels with ministers, members of parliament, government officials and other industry associations.

Gertsakis served as executive director of Product Stewardship Australia representing global consumer electronics brands in the design of the Product Stewardship Act. As an Honorary Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, he understands the issues confronting the design industry.

His work has covered appliances, electronics, furniture, floor-coverings and textiles. Design management has often been at the centre of these engagements including greater attention to how we transition to a circular economy. His early work on cradle-to-cradle thinking represents a

JEFA GREENAWAY Director, RAIA (Wailwan | Kamilaroi), Greenaway Architects

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Jefa Greenaway is Director of Greenaway Architects, a University of Melbourne senior academic, and a regular design commentator

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pioneering phase at RMIT’s Centre for Design.

Gertsakis is also director of Communications with Equilibrium consultants, senior policy adviser with the DIA, and an adjunct professor with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS. JEAN GRAHAM Founder of Winter Architecture Jean Graham is the founding director of Winter Architecture, a collaborative architecture practice located in Fitzroy and Torquay. Translating the quiet, introspective, site-specific qualities of Winter - the season - into an Architectural dictum. Varied budgets and a range of client backgrounds, Winter Architecture has opened up the possibility of architecture to a number of clients who did not feel architecture was accessible to then, due to low budgets, difficult site restrictions, and the desire to build themselves. She is also is the recipient of the 2018 Sustainability Awards ‘ Emerging Architect of the Year’.

Graham has maintained her relationship with Deakin University teaching architecture design studios, alongside teaching interior architecture studios at Swinburne University and guest critiquing at the University of Melbourne and Monash University.

ABOVE (from left to right) Christian Hampson, Jefa Greenaway, John Gertsakis, Jean Graham.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Judging Panel

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For this years’ Sustainability Awards, the judging panel that was chosen was a mix of both experience and overall industry-wide knowledge and as such, this year’s judges had a unique and as always, a laser-like focus on delivering the very best winners of what was a record-breaking pool of entries.

To say that this year has not been without its challenges would be an extreme understatement.

From fires to floods and now the global COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 will go down as either ‘The year we didn’t need to have’ or ‘The year we all had our mettle tested’.

Regardless, while all this madness and mayhem was around us, those of us tasked with keeping the 2020 Sustainability Awards on track had a job to do and that also included establishing a top-notch judging panel, a mission which I believe we have accomplished.

By that I mean that this year’s jurist’s panel has what many we exactly need to get the perfect results, not surprising really as the 2020 panel is a mix of expertise, wisdom, experience and hands-on sustainability experience, all neatly bundled up in a group of people that are diverse in their outlook and experience and also have an acute understanding of what are the crucial elements in the sustainable built environment.

I cannot finish off this brief introduction to our judges without mentioning that for the second year running, we have managed to surpass gender parity, with four out of the total seven judges being women. This is a reflection of not only our determination to ensure a level of true equity in our panel, but also an indication of the talent and sheer skill of many women who are making enormous contributions to sustainability in the built environment.

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DICK CLARKE Dick Clarke is principal of Envirotecture, with over 35 years’ experience focusing exclusively on ecologically-sustainable and culturally appropriate buildings, as well as sustainable design in vehicles and vessels.

He is director of Sustainability for Building Designers Australia (BDA) and is a member of the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA) and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC).

This is Clarke’s 14th year on the panel and he is once again the Jury Chair.

JEREMY SPENCER Jeremy Spencer is a director and builder and energy rater at Positive Footprints, a multi award-winning design and construction company that is working to show that energy efficient sustainable design and highperformance construction is a cost-effective option and can be a mainstream reality.

Jeremy is passionate about spreading the message of environmentally sustainable design, and to help bring about change in the way we build homes. To this end, he gives lectures, teaches, builds, and currently sits on the board of the Building Designers Association of Victoria, where he continues to advise and

advocate for energy efficiency and broader environmental change in the built environment.

MAHALATH HALPERIN Mahalath Halperin, FRAIA, is an architect and environmental consultant living and working in regional NSW. As well as running an architectural practice since the 1990s, addressing everything from domestic renovations through to large commercial buildings, resorts and education facilities, she also conducts energy and environmental audits and assessments, and has always tried to tie the scientific with the aesthetic to achieve highly sustainable but liveable works where possible.

Mahalath has also developed and delivered courses on environmental and architectural issues, and is also a published author, including assorted children’s books, including one about her cat building a house.

In 2010, she established HELP - Holistic Environmental Lifestyle Planning, which both looks into the bigger picture, beyond just the physical building itself, but can also drill down to the basics, provide audits and assessments, and offers a Green Concierge Service as well.

As an architect, for Mahalath it has long been a case of it’s not just about the building, but the people who live and/or work in it as well.

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Sandra Furtado is co-founder Furtado Sullivan, an architecture studio based in Sydney. The practice enjoys the challenge of translating a project’s complexity into a design that works with its environment, combining large-scale efficiency and sophistication with a bespoke design approach. In the past, she has been intrinsically involved in notable large-scale projects including 8 Chifley, Barangaroo Masterplan and International Towers, and One Circular Quay hotel in Circular Quay.

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Nermine is a senior architect and sustainability manager at Koichi Takada Architects. She has worked in Australia and internationally on a number of large and small scale projects covering a wide range of architectural typologies. She brings to every new opportunity a contagious passion for sustainable design as well as a comprehensive understanding of industry best practices.

Nermine also believes that it is vital to continually learn – and to educate others in the industry and in the general public – about ways to minimise the impact of the built environment on the planet. Beyond her aim to positively influence materials selection, construction methods, and ongoing energy-efficient operations strategies, she also seeks to ensure that the buildings and spaces we create are human-centred and improve human health and well-being. She believes that every project, no matter how large or small, is an opportunity to make our communities, and ultimately our world, more liveable and resilient.

Suzanne Toumbourou is the executive director of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, a body of peak organisations committed to a vision of more sustainable, productive and resilient buildings, communities and cities. Suzanne is a renowned trailblazer and sustainability champion with a passion and expertise in communication, collaboration and an inclusive agenda for a sustainable Australia.

Toumbourou has broad experience encompassing Federal and State Governments, industry and non-profit organisations including the Australian Conservation Foundation and GetUp. She played a coordinating role with the Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change and was a foundational member of the steering committee for Al Gore’s Climate Project in Australia.

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SANDRA FURTADO

NERMINE ZAHRAN

SUZANNE TOUMBOUROU

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Michael Faine has been a registered architect since 1980 and to date, has worked on a multitude of building types, designs, construction and procurement methods.

His diverse career led him to a teaching position at the University of Western Sydney in the Bachelor of Building/Construction Management degree and saw him acting as the Head of School for a time. After 17 years as an academic, and juror positions on both the Building Designers Association of Australia and the HIA Awards, Michael is attuned to analysing the work of builders and designers, and understanding the price in the work they are carrying out.

Sandra has an extraordinary ability to understand urban complexity. Through holistic design thinking, she seeks synergies with multidisciplinary practices, harnessing collective knowledge in order to achieve goals creatively and drive the sustainability agenda.

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MICHAEL FAINE

ABOVE (left to right) Jeremy Spencer, Michael Faine, Sandra Furtado. BOTTOM (left to right) Dick Clarke, Mahalath Halperin, Nermine Zahran, Suzanne Toumbourou.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners

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BEST ADAPTIVE REUSE LILYDALE HOUSE AT MARRICK & CO

BY MIRVAC DESIGN AND TONKIN ZULAIKHA GREER The adaptive reuse of the heritage Nurses’ Quarters as Lilydale House makes a charismatic centrepiece in Mirvac’s urban renewal of the former Marrickville Hospital site.

The landmark mixed-use precinct integrates Marrick & Co, Mirvac’s sustainable mediumdensity housing development, with Council’s outstanding new library and community pavilion.

Redevelopment brings new connections and open spaces for socialising, creates safe and equitable access to new amenity, improves local habitat through new plantings, promotes wellbeing, mitigates long-term environmental impacts, and supports local economy, culture and community. For these efforts, it has been recognised as the first One Planet Living community in NSW. The site is highly significant for its role in the provision of health care and nursing services to the local community from 1899 to the hospital’s closure in 1991.

Located on Marrickville’s main historic strip, the site is an important component of the

immediate Marrickville civic precinct which also includes the Town Hall, St Brigid’s Church and the Fire Station.

The prominent two-storey Nurses’ Quarters which, along with the Main Ward Block, comprises the core of the Lilydale Street face brick buildings, presents as the most recognisable public face of the former hospital.

The Nurses’ Quarters was built in 1909 as a residence for the nurses working at the hospital, designed by prominent architect and alderman, Lindsay Thompson. It was converted to a casualty ward and outpatients’ clinic in the 1960s and was used for ancillary hospital services since that time, before being operated as a preschool in 1992.

The building has played a continuous role in the community for 100 years. Adaptive reuse of the Nurses’ Quarters as two whole-floor residences within the Marrick & Co residential complex is highly compatible with the original residential purpose of the heritage building.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners

Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre is self-sufficient, doesn’t exceed the resources of its location and contains socially equitable, culturally rich and ecologically restorative spaces that connect people to light, air, food and community. It produces more energy than it consumes, captures and re-uses all the water it needs, incorporates biophilic design, avoids the use of toxic and worst-in-class building materials, and has a net positive waste impact.

The centre is vying to achieve Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification, the most rigorous sustainability standard in the built environment in the world, administered by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). Globally, just 24 buildings have achieved full LBC certification, and aside from Burwood Brickworks, no other retail project in the world has aspired to do so.

The result is a building that operates with the simple efficiency and beauty of a flower, as the LBC demands. It redefines sustainability in retail, a sector synonymous with waste.

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COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE (LARGE) BURWOOD BRICKWORKS SHOPPING CENTRE BY NH ARCHITECTURE WITH RUSSELL & GEORGE AND FRASERS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA

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P R O M O T I O N F E AT U R E

Style and function: Specifying linear drainage systems for the hospitality industry

STORMTECH.COM.AU / A & D X S tor m te c h /

Traditional vs. Linear drainage Traditional drainage uses a single drainage trap placed over a pipe that is directly connected to the main waste outlet.

Common issues include: • unsightly central position on floors; • increased construction costs due to four-way grading; • limited accessibility due to use of hobs and other barriers; and • prone to ponding and blockages.

Linear drainage, which utilises an in-ground trough or channel to efficiently remove wastewater from floor-level and funnel it towards the main drainage system, offers the following advantages: • drains can run length of room, requiring only a single gradient fall; • aesthetically pleasing, geometric design; • sits in-ground, eliminating hobs and barriers; and

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• efficient drainage minimises pooling and blocking.

Linear drainage for the modern hospitality industry Linear drainage is an ideal solution for meeting regulatory and aesthetic requirements in hospitality settings. For example: • Food preparation areas require sufficient drainage to prevent wastewater from contaminating food and drink and pooling on the floor.

• Linear drains along the edges of pools can effectively reduce contamination from splash zone water, creating a safer and more sanitary environment.

• The sleek design of linear drainage can deliver a luxury finish suitable for contemporary bathrooms.

Linear drainage for accessibility Compliant linear drainage systems enable the installation of safer, more even floors that minimise falls and slips. In-ground trenches mean that no steps or barriers are required, even if the drain runs along the line of entry to the shower.

Achieving Sustainable outcomes In addition to the economic benefits of more efficient water usage, adequate drainage minimises flooding to landscaped areas, and reduces mold, damp and structural degradation. There are several frameworks to help specifiers select sustainable drainage solutions including the Water Sensitive Urban Design guidelines.

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Drainage design poses unique challenges for the hospitality sector due to the breadth of use cases and significant water usage. Linear drainage systems provide a versatile solution.

Stormtech For 30 years, Stormtech has been at the forefront of sustainable drainage design in Australia. Stormtech’s award-winning grates and drains meet the stringent safety, design and functionality requirements of the modern market.

Stormtech drains are compliant with all relevant Australian Standards, Watermark certified and have Level A GreenTag certification.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners

PROUDLY PARTNERED BY

COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE (SMALL) ACRE FARM EATERY

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Part of the Burwood Brickworks development

by Frasers Property, Acre Eatery is an urban rooftop farm showcasing ‘farm to table’ eating in an urban setting. With over 2500sqm of roof space, the site comprises of hydroponic glasshouses, quail coops, worm farms and over 1000sqm of garden beds all delivering fresh produce direct to the restaurant table at Acre.

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HIGHLY COMMENDED T2 BONDI JUNCTION

BY SANDBOX GROUP

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PROUDLY PARTNERED BY

/ sustainability awards

The Woodside Building for Technology and Design is a landmark, state-of-the-art technology and education design building to accommodate the faculties of Engineering and Information Technology at the Monash University’s Clayton Campus. The building hosts 750 staff and students, divided in 5 levels, and is currently the largest Passivhaus Building in the Southern Hemisphere.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

EDUCATION & RESEARCH MONASH WOODSIDE BUILDING FOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

BY GRIMSHAW ARCHITECTS

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HIGHLY COMMENDED PICAC NARRE WARREN

BY FMSA ARCHITECTURE

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MULTIPLE DWELLING GILLES HALL, MONASH UNIVERSITY

BY JACKSON CLEMENTS BURROWS ARCHITECTS WITH AECOM Gillies Hall is a new student accommodation on the Peninsula Campus comprising 150 studio apartments and common areas. The building is a showcase of the University’s commitment to deliver first-class student accommodation and achieve Net Zero emissions for its operations.

Gillies Hall seeks to transform the student residential experience and set a new benchmark in environmental building design in Australia.

Gillies Hall has been designed and built to redefine comfort and create opportunities for students to meet and learn from others. The six level accommodation provides exceptional single occupancy studios and dedicated collaborative spaces for students to study, engage and relax.

Utilising mass timber structure and Passive House design and certification, the building puts occupant comfort, health and wellbeing as a central focus. The building provides an ideal indoor environment at an energy and carbon footprint dramatically lower than any similar type building in Australia.

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PROUDLY PARTNERED BY

HIGHLY COMMENDED ARKADIA BY DKO ARCHITECTURE + BREATHE ARCHITECTURE WITH OCULUS

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PREFAB & MODULAR THE FOUNDRY BY FRANCIS-JONES MOREHEN THORP (FJMT) AND SISSONS WITH MIRVAC

HIGHLY COMMENDED SACKVILLE STUDIOS BY STUDIO EDWARDS WITH SPHERA LIGHTING

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

The Foundry is the third and largest new commercial building Mirvac has completed at South Eveleigh. It spans 55,000sqm over six storeys with expansive floorplates nearing 9,000sqm, earning the title of one of Australia’s first ‘groundscrapers’ in reference to its largescale, low-level design which fosters a campusstyle, sustainable working environment that promotes health, wellbeing, collaboration and productivity.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners

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INTERNATIONAL

SINGLE DWELLING (ALTERATION) WAREHOUSE GREENHOUSE BY BREATHE ARCHITECTURE The home is built to Passivhaus standards, is extremely air-tight with only 1.2 air changes per hour and uses passive solar design to maximise sun penetration in winter and shade the interiors in summer. It has a highly thermally-efficient envelope, is cross-ventilated and harnesses the existing buildings thermal mass.

It has high performance, double glazed tilt-and-turn windows, which were installed inside the existing glazed openings – essentially adding a third layer of glazing with a large cavity (making this a triple glazed dwelling). Incredibly, there is no active heating or cooling in this residence, instead, it solely relies on the tight thermal envelope and the HRV system.

Materiality took precedence over form and ethics came before aesthetics while remnants of the existing building are preserved – revealing its imperfections and years of layered wear.

Prioritising the longevity of the existing warehouse, the project is a simple, contextual extension built using as many reused, repurposed materials as possible.

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THE SNUG BY GREEN SHEEP COLLECTIVE

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Q+A with Dr Peter Sweatman from Caroma lot of the problems that existed in bathrooms for older people was the acceptance of supportive technology. We focused on individuals and giving them the ability to create an environment that suited them.

I’m currently a researcher on the Caroma design team, looking at strategic product development – how product ranges that we develop fit in with current trends, what people are expecting and future needs, as well as the visual elements and how we can [present that to the market.

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How else do you practice sustainability?

Caroma’s business is based around finding superior solutions for water, so everything we do considers environmental, social, economic and compliance implications, including ensuring our suppliers meet those standards too. But an awareness of the latest sustainability standards – and the ability to

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Where does that driving force come from?

Is it more philanthropic or business focused?

I think those two incentives broadly align. As an individual working on these concepts, it’s certainly a great motivating factor to know that the work we’re doing has broader implications and will be beneficial for the environment and vulnerable people. But, ultimately, they’re aligned because solutions we can design today will become the standard for tomorrow.

Sustainability is as much about being strategic as it is about trying to make a difference. We’ve already worked out, based on the success of the dual-flush toilet, that developing cuttingedge, sustainable products works for the business – so that’s what we’ll keep on doing.

If you’re in touch with what’s happening in the real world, eventually that’ll translate to success in the business world.

What upcoming trends are you seeing in bathroom design?

The best way to identify trends is to look at how people are using their bathrooms and how their needs are changing.

Bathrooms are the most personal space within the home and people design their bathrooms differently depending on who is using them. Guest bathrooms will often be where people show off their sense of style and taste; the family bathroom is all about usability, and then the ensuite is even more private again, where you can really style it for yourself.

At Caroma, we take this into consideration with our different product range stylings.

When we think about sustainability, it’s all about appreciating water and how we use it.

Our products are the interface in how you use water and if you use it more conservatively, you’ll appreciate it more. Our products focus on giving people that added control over how they’re using water and getting the most from it.

Another, more practical, consideration is that bathrooms are a costly and difficult thing to install or change. There are layers of waterproofing, plumbing and tiling involved, so people don’t take decisions around colours and styles lightly. As a supplier, it’s our responsibility to help people feel informed and that they’re making the right decisions so they can choose their bathrooms with confidence and know they’ll still love it five to ten years from now.

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Please can you tell us a bit about your experience and how you started working with Caroma?

I studied industrial design at Canberra University, where there was an opportunity to be involved on a research project with Dr Steve Cummins, the R&D manager at Caroma.

I worked on that project as a research assistant, dogsbody and problem solver, looking at developing prototypes to test in the lab to reduce toilet flush volumes. There was a lot of flushing things down the toilet to make sure they performed properly with lower flush volumes.

We did field trials, in collaboration with water authorities, which led to several new standards and the release of 3 litre flushing toilets – a huge jump from the existing 6.5 litre toilets.

Later, another opportunity came up to work on a research project with UNSW Built Environment, looking at the effect of bathroom design on the performance of daily tasks in older people. I was involved in was the development of the liveability lab, a space that used a variety of technologies, like 3D motion capture, pressure-sensing surfaces and thermal scanning – but also provided a mixed-method approach, such as interviews, talk-throughs and co-design workshops. We realised that a

How does Caroma compare to international brands, when it comes to sustainability?

We pioneered toilet flush volumes, so I’d say a lot of international brands have been following us on water conservation. Dual flush has found its way into Europe and the UK, as water supply has become a greater concern in those regions.

We believe our clean flush rimless toilet design is the best in the world, but we definitely keep an eye on what’s happening in the rest of the world and how our products stack up.

We recently acquired Methven, a New Zealand brand, which has a presence in the UK and other regions, so that’s growing our global presence. We’ve also been promoting our Smart Command technology internationally, which has given us a lot of attention in China and the UAE at a commercial level. We’re definitely looking to export the things that make Caroma different.

CAROMA.COM.AU

With first class honours in Industrial Design, a PhD in user centred bathroom design for older people and more than 15 years’ experience in developing water efficient products, there are few more qualified to discuss sustainable bathroom design than Caroma’s Dr Peter Sweatman.

We managed to find time in Dr Sweatman’s hectic schedule to hear his thoughts on the key motivating factors behind sustainable design, how Caroma compares internationally and the latest user-driven bathroom trends.

Is it unusual for a bathroom supplier to invest so heavily in R&D and water conservation?

It’s just part of Caroma’s culture. We created the first successful dual flush toilet, which was a turning point for the company and resulted in us becoming the dominant bathroom supplier in the country. Having that strategic focus of always looking ahead, at what we can improve, has given us an edge in the market and against our competitors. Big concerns, such as an aging population, conserving water, globalisation – these are well-known issues that are only going to become more critical over time, so it makes sense to start addressing them now.

meet them – is a good indication of how well a business is run, so it’s something we expect from all our suppliers.

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SINGLE DWELLING (NEW) UPSIDE DOWN AKUBRA HOUSE BY ALEXANDER SYMES ARCHITECT The Upside Down Akubra House seeks to do things differently and to form an empathetic and nurturing relationship to the big landscapes around the Northern-Central district of NSW. The Upside Down Akubra House, inspired by the wide brim of its namesake, it marries beauty and functionality to create an off the grid family home on a 314 hectare cattle farm an hour south of Tamworth in regional NSW. The living spaces are arranged around the perimeter with a functional service core

featuring operable skylights that bring light and ventilation into the heart. A simple material palette of concrete, timber and corrugated metal unifies internal and external spaces. Not only is the form of the house drawn from the landscape, it is also nurtured from its place; collecting all the energy and water required for occupation on its vast sloping roof. The brief for a simple, robust and self-sufficient house has been met with a combination of high-tech solutions and thoughtful passive design.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

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EDGARS CREEK HOUSE

BY BREATHE ARCHITECTURE

27/10/20 4:52 pm

URBAN & LANDSCAPE FOR OUR COUNTRY

BY EDITION OFFICE AND DANIEL BOYD

HIGHLY COMMENDED THE CANOPY PRECINCT BY SCOTT CARVER WITH SUPERMANOEUVRE

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN /

PROUDLY PARTNERED BY s u s tainability a w ard s

For Our Country is the inaugural National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial, commissioned by the Australian War Memorial (AWM) and is located on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country. The work provides a space from which to contemplate and commemorate Indigenous connection to country and the sacrifice that Indigenous serving men and woman have made in the protection of their country.

A basalt stone field outlines the outer face of the memorial, establishing a collective gathering space defined by a two-way mirror glass veil which captures the landscape and the viewer within a cloud of mirrored lenses.

This reflection is seen to exist on the other side of this veil, establishing an empathetic othering whereby a viewer can witness themselves and their surroundings as existing elsewhere, both in space and time, allowing the contemplation of an indigenous gaze and an indigenous experience of war, conflict and sacrifice.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners

PROUDLY PARTNERED BY

Interface’s Carbon Neutral Floors was achieved from the mission to live zero. Zero waste, greenhouse gas emissions and net water use, 100 percent renewable energy and a closed technical loop via product take back, 100 percent recycled or biobased materials and other goals related to transportation, stakeholder well-being and business models that “redesign commerce”.

The goal is to make products with the lowest carbon footprint possible that help restore the health of the planet. Interface says it’s committed to lower our carbon footprint across all areas of our business. Providing environmentally responsible flooring solutions to the built industry where both embodied and operation carbon can be reduced even further.

HIGHLY COMMENDED STORMTECH ZYPHO WASTE WATER HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEM

BY STORMTECH

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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GREEN BUILDING MATERIAL CARBON NEUTRAL FLOORS

BY INTERFACE

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SMART BUILDING VANQUISH BY JOE ADSETT ARCHITECTS WITH SOLAIRE PROPERTIES AND ECO LATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS This home is Australia’s largest architecturally designed passive house and one of only 38 ever built to this standard in a sub-tropical climate anywhere in the world.

This home is the benchmark gold standard of building design within the country and features world-first heat pump technology as well as Australian first 3-phase hybrid smart inverters that integrate with not only the hot water system but are fully ready for integration with the future energy retail sector and localized energy trading schemes.

HIGHLY COMMENDED INTERCONTINENTAL DOUBLE BAY SYDNEY BY AMPLE

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EQUITONE.COM

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Where style meets substance: The new all-in-one facade system that means zero compromise for architects In the age-old battle between artistic vision, performance and financial practicalities, there has usually only ever been one winner.

However, the new all-in-one facade system from EQUTIONE has turned that paradigm on its head, giving architects the best of both worlds.

EQUITONE fibre cement panels have always been architects first choice aesthetically, and now with a full system including weather barriers, sub frames and fixings, their all-in-one ventilated facade system promises to revolutionise the way building facades are constructed.

EQUITONE Managing Director, Nicolas Macor says “As a company, we are always looking for technical improvements. We love challenges and finding innovative ways to solve the big problems that our industry faces. Leaky buildings, water ingress, mould, fungi, inefficient energy consumption, sustainability and combustible cladding issues are all directly attributed to a non compliant building facade. The cladding fires have grabbed the headlines, but there are many other important issues at stake”.

Innovation that tackles our industry’s biggest issues Also known as the leaky buildings crisis, moisture ingress can be attributed to design deficiencies, use of non compliant facade systems and poor workmanship.

Over the years, building envelopes have been “wrapped” with a non compliant or unsuitable weather barrier that traps internal moisture and causes condensation.

The issue has been further exacerbated in an effort to solve concerns surrounding combustibility. The use of metal sheeting as a non combustible “weather barrier” has

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inadvertantly blocked water vapour diffusion, and led to the proliferation of condensation.

Condensation, a more discreet but no less damaging long term issue is insidious, often spreading unseen for several years. It can lead to water ingress in the wiring, insulation and framing. Timber and internal linings that become damp can decay and encourage mould growth and pest infestation.

Occupants who are exposed to toxic black mould growth, dust mite populations and bacteria are at risk of serious respiratory problems from poisoning including asthma, allergies and depression. Black mould can grow in workplaces, schools and homes and go undetected for years until the occupants begin to suffer from coughs, sneezing, rashes, eye irritation and chronic fatigue.

A system you can trust EQUITONE have partnered with pro clima and Siniat to develop a full system that is the first of its kind in Australia. EQUITONE will not only supply their own premium fibre cement panels, but will now provide the option for a full system which includes a weather barrier, sub frame and fixings.

EQUITONE’s all-in-one system works in tandem to give full protection agaist the risk of fire propagation across the facade and assists with managing moisture ingress and condensation risks.

The inner fully ventilated air cavity also means that in driving rain, any water entering the cavity may drain down and out, or evaporate, rather than pooling or stagnating within the cavity and causing irreversible damage to the building envelope.Together with

a suitable weather barrier, this system makes the building both low maintenance and a healthier place for people to live and work.

The NCC compliance of EQUITONE • Fibre Cement: EQUITONE fibre cement materials are fibre cement sheeting manufactured in compliance with AS/NZS 2908.2 (Cellulose-cement products Part 2: Flat sheets) and ISO 8336 (fibre-cement flat sheets).

• Weatherproofing: Performance Requirement FP1.4 and P2.2.2 of the NCC: EQUITONE facade systems have been tested and certified to AS 4284 for the purpose of compliance with the relevant Performance Requirements of the NCC. • Structural: Performance Requirement B1.2 & B1.4, and P2.1.1 of the NCC: EQUITONE facade materials may be used in all wind zones including C & D - cyclonic areas - in accordance with AS 4040.3 (7.99KPa).

• Non-combustibility and fire properties: Performance Requirement C1.9 and P2.3.1 of the NCC: EQUITONE facade materials are deemed non-combustible as per the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions of C1.9(e) and 3.7.1.1(d) of the NCC. Performance Requirement C1.10 of the NCC Volume 1: EQUITONE facade materials are classified a Group ‘1’ fire resistant material in accordance with AS 5637.1 and are compliant with AS 1530.3.

• Bushfire construction: Performace Requirement G5 and P2.7.5 of the NCC: EQUITONE facade materials may be used in all bushfire prone areas (BAL Zones) with a wall construction compliant with AS 3959.

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Fully compliant weather barrier options

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One bold industry changing move This is an industry changing move from EQUITONE. Architects will now be able to specify the EQUITONE system and rest assured that the entire system is safe, weather tight and is fully compliant with the relevant performace requirements of the BCA. Having a full system also ensures a lower chance of specifications being swapped out for inferior or non compliant facade systems and components which can jeapordise the overall performance of the external wall.

“Outperforming the industry’s minimum standards and being at the forefront of offering low maintenance, cost effective, innovative and high performing solutions to the market has been our main focus when developing our unique facade solutions. We aim to give back design freedom to architects and assist them to bring their artistic visions to life” adds EQUITONE’s National Technical Manager, Mehdi Malekian.

It is the only tested and fully ventilated facade system of its kind available in the industry and it is long overdue.

DOWNLOAD THE WHITEPAPER bit.ly/EQ_20Q4

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A facade system that looks after our future An all-in-one ventilated facade system enhances thermoregulation and helps the building to be

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Siniat Rigid Air Barrier Means superior weather defence Siniat WEATHER DEFENCE® is an award winning external Rigid Air Barrier that has taken building envelope construction and performance to another level. Strong, highly moisture resistant, vapour permeable and deemed noncombustible, it is a revolutionary new external lining board, faced with water repellent material for superior weather protection.

• Quick and easy to cut and install • Water, weather and mould resistant • Highly vapour permeable (class 4) • Suitable for climate zones 2 to 8 • 12 months exposure allowing early project close • Suitable for use where non-combustible materials are specified by the Deemed to Satisfy provisions

EQUITONE.COM

pro clima The No. 1 protection against moisture SOLITEX EXTASANA® by pro clima is a nonporous flexible membrane that provides high waterproof and windproof protection. It also gives the best possible protection against the formation of condensation and mould. When it makes homes and offices healthier, more energy efficient and more eco-friendly for years to come, why compromise with inferior products?

• Weathertightness for the lifetime of the building • Weather resistant, wind-tight, vapour permeable • Suitable for climate zones 2 to 8 • High resistance to driving rain • UV stabilised for up to 90 days exposure • High tear resistance and excellent durability • External air barrier

more energy efficient. So much so that heating and cooling costs can be reduced by up to 40%.

Ventilated facades with suitable weather barriers and insulation also increase accoustic performace. Outdoor noise pollution can be reduced by up to 20%, making a significant difference for inner city homes and offices.

There is also a significant cost saving when it comes to maintenance, as EQUITONE does not require any recoating or resealing. With alternative materials needing to be maintained at least every 5-10 years, the ever rising cost of labour can add up to considerable costs further down the line.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners HIGHLY COMMENDED CITIZEN _ POP-UP COFFEE PAVILLION

BY ZWEI INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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WASTE ELIMINATION MARRICK & CO BY MIRVAC DESIGN AND TONKIN ZULAIKHA GREER At Marrick & Co, Mirvac has created the first One Planet Living community in NSW and in doing so has reimagined urban life as more sustainable, liveable and resilient.

A well-resolved ground plane allows two new residential buildings to reside harmoniously alongside adaptive reuse of heritage fabric, public green space and the new Council Library

and Pavilion, which were designed by BVN and delivered by Mirvac.

Guided by One Planet Living principles, urban design brings connections and open spaces, creates safe and equitable access to new amenity, improves habitat, promotes wellbeing, mitigates environmental impact, and supports local economy, culture and community.

Collaborative consumption is encouraged via a resident-managed tool library, reading library, bulky goods store & kitchen garden. Outdoor spaces provide significant new biodiversity, human comfort, social interaction & stormwater filtration. The Residents’ Garden, rooftop kitchen garden, barbecue area & pizza oven allow residents to grow & prepare healthy food.

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ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN / sustainability awards / O C T- D E C 2 0 2 0

EMERGING SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECT / DESIGNER TALINA EDWARDS FROM TALINA EDWARDS ARCHITECTURE Talina Edwards was one of the first female architects in Australia that qualified as a Certified Passive House Designer and designed a home that successfully achieved Passive House Certification. The award-winning “Owl Woods Passive House” is a ground-breaking project demonstrating leadership with world’s best practice in terms of sustainability, performance, efficiency, resilience, durability,

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PROUDLY PARTNERED BY

quality, beauty, comfort and occupant health.

It proves what is achievable, but also necessary in achieving more climate-responsive and responsible buildings.

Edwards has played a leading role promoting sustainable architecture by sharing her knowledge, experiences and passion to inspire others through presentations, articles, podcasts and social media.

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners

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WOMEN IN SUSTAINABILITY NADINE SAMAHA FROM LEVEL ARCHITEKTURE>KONSTRUKT Nadine Samaha established with her partner level architekture>konstrukt 26 years ago to fulfill the need for a comprehensive interdisciplinary service that pursues sustainable built outcomes. To broaden her knowledge, Samaha became LEED green associate and green classroom professional.

As lecturer of ESD at RMIT, she empowers students with tools to improve the built environment and runs workshops on climate change, biophilic and regenerative design.

As an AIA Chapter councillor and chair of SAF, in collaboration sometimes with Architects Declare, Samaha promotes sustainability issues to architects, academics and the public through forums and webinars on climate change, zero emissions and low carbon.

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LoE3-366® with added Neat+® easy-clean coating Lower energy. Lower maintenance. Clearer Low-E glass.

glassworksaust.com/LoE-366 | +613 8788 5888

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The 2020 Sustainability Awards Winners

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT PAUL HAAR FROM HAARCHITECTURE

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For over 40 years, Paul Haar has advocated for sustainability by example, through many projects both in and around architectural practice.

Haar’s highly regarded knowledge of thermal performance, building materials and construction detailing have seen him also commissioned to troubleshoot where green builds by others have gone awry. Australia’s premier commercial green building, 60L in Carlton Victoria, had him engaged in this capacity for six years (2002-2008).

His expertise with water engineering, renewable energy systems and horticulture, have seen Haar also teaching outside architecture, to seminars and courses on permaculture, agroforestry, health promotion and community development.

In his engagements with students and young graduates, Haar emphasises how our environmental and COVID emergencies present as many new opportunities for work towards sustainable futures as they pose constraints to business as usual.

By sharing his own story, he illustrates how a career in regenerative architecture can be launched, scaffolded and enriched by volunteering in community based building work and other environmental pursuits.

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ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN / O C T- D E C 2 0 2 0

Burwood Brickworks is one of very few retail buildings to engage with the cultural history of the site and bring these dynamic stories to life. There is a permanent art installation on the ceiling of the internal mall and faรงade of the centre along Middleborough Road painted

by Wurundjeri, Dja Dja Wurrung and Ngurai Illum Wurrung artist Mandy Nicholson which tells the indigenous tale of the forming of the Yarra River.

sustainability awards

BEST OF THE BEST BURWOOD BRICKWORKS SHOPPING CENTRE NH ARCHITECTURE WITH RUSSELL & GEORGE AND FRASERS PROPERTY AUSTRALIA

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PROUDLY PARTNERED BY

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THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS We would like to say thank you to all partners and sponsors of the 2020 Sustainability Awards Digital Gala and Digital Summit for making these awards the most successful ever!

Best of the Best + Education & Research

Green Building Material

Prefab & Modular

Emerging Sustainable Architect/Designer

Waste Elimination

Best Adaptive Reuse

Single Dwelling (Alteration)

Commercial Architecture (Large)

Women in Sustainability

Urban & Landscape

Commercial Architecture (Small)

Smart Building

INTERNATIONAL

Single Dwelling (New)

Production Partner

Multiple Dwelling

Wine Partner

Trophy Partner

Lifetime Achievement

Strategic Partners

sustainablebuildingawards.com.au IMAGE The rooftop gardens of Burwood Brickworks by NH Architecture with Russell & George and Frasers Property Australia Winner of 2020 Sustainability Digital Awards Best of the Best and Commercial Architecture (Large) awards

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Aged Care Case Study The Regent

CAROMA.COM.AU / A&D X Caroma /

Background In recent years, standards for aged care living have undergone a radical transformation as developers have reimagined the possibilities for environments where care is provided.

Set in the highly sought-after Regent Street, an affluent and leafy Victorian suburb of Mount Waverley, The Regent by Japara is one of the latest of these next-generation care homes, setting an entirely new standard in luxury retirement living. This high-end residence features luxury resident rooms and suites, all with private ensuite bathrooms, and views of the stunning Valley Reserve.

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Challenge With a reputation built upon the highest standards of quality finishes and stylish design, the challenge for Spowers – lead architects for The Regent – was to exceed prospective residents’ expectations.

To deliver a safe environment that is responsive to clinical and functional aged care requirements, The Regent had very specific requirements for its bathroom fittings, fixtures and finishes including raised toilet pan heights, slip-resistant flooring and lever controlled taps for effortless water control.

Aesthetically, the design required these features to match an ultra-stylish look and feel, which included expensive timber and stone finishes.

Solution Working closely with Japara’s General Manager of real estate, Toby Hicks, the Spowers team enlisted Caroma’s expertise in specifying the perfect bathroom range to meet The Regent’s high standards.

A range of Caroma solutions were installed across 105 aged care ensuite bathrooms, including: • Urbane Cleanflush toilets; • Care 800 Cleanflush Accessible toilet; • semi-recessed basins and wall basins; • Liano Nexus basin mixer and shower tap set (with a WELS 6 star rating); and • Virtu Comfort Shower seats.

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Developer: Japara Architect: Spowers Caroma LiveWell solution: A selection of different Caroma products were installed across 105 luxury aged care ensuite bathrooms; including Care 800 Cleanflush toilets, Urbane toilet, Urbane semi-recessed basins and wall basins, Liano Nexus basin mixer and shower tap set and Virtu Comfort Shower seats.

Caroma is Spowers’ preferred bathroom supplier as they offer a diverse range of products, including premium options, in addition to market leading warranties, comprehensive customer service and ongoing maintenance.

Feedback from The Regent’s first residents has been hugely positive. The Caroma range played an integral part in delivering a contemporary, clean aesthetic that helped create a sense of calm and warmth to the homes.

DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDY bit.ly/Regent_20Q4

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WORDS STEPHANIE STEFANOVIC

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Sustainable building materials: An Australian innovation story

The events of 2020 have seen their impact across all industries, and architecture and design is unfortunately no exception.

There are clear challenges for the AECD industry going forward and with this comes as a reminder of the importance of supporting Australian companies and products. Thankfully, Australian building product designers and manufacturers have continued to innovate in recent years, developing world-class sustainable products designed to weather Australian conditions. This article will detail some of the latest trends and innovations in sustainable building materials, as well as some architecturally stunning case studies that prove ‘sustainable’ can also be synonymous with ‘beautiful’.

FAUX CONCRETE: A NEW TREND IN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN?

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One of the most interesting innovations in recent years has been the development of concrete alternatives, or ‘faux concrete’. Whether or not concrete itself is a “sustainable” material is really up to your interpretation. While some argue it fits the definition of sustainability due to its ability to stand the test of time, others take issue with the high level of greenhouse gas emissions and other direct environmental damage caused by the use of concrete.

For designers who love the look of concrete but not the environmental impacts, faux

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concrete attempts to address this conundrum.

ExoTec Vero is a good example of this. The product is described as a “pre-finished concrete look option” that is part of ExoTec’s Facade System. Known for its long-term durability and water resistance, the concrete alternative is also impact-resistant, structurally stable and suitable for non-combustible construction.

ExoTec Vero was used recently in a boutique residential development in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood, where the brief was to design a building that would nestle harmoniously within the natural landscape while maximising views over the treetop canopies towards the Lane Cove River. The product was used in tandem with a mix of white render, charcoal grey render and metal, as well as natural timber elements; making the building feel like an extension of its natural surrounds.

“The combination of ExoTec Vero and [James Hardie’s] RAB Board is a great system that is Building Code Australia (BCA) compliant for non-combustible facade elements and provides excellent weather resistance,” says Anthony Melia, project manager of Novati Constructions, which worked on the Chatswood project. The product’s weather resistance was proven when there was very little leakage during a major storm period in February 2020.

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THIS PAGE Another good example of a timber alternative product is Innowood’s recyclable timber cladding solution used at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

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additional chemical adhesives, glues or resins in the manufacturing process (left). Futurewood’s waste-eliminating timber battens (right).

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ABOVE Point Lonsdale House features Durra Panel’s wall and ceiling board, which is made from wheat and rice straw, and requires no

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THE RISE OF TIMBER Timber has always been a popular Australian building material, and this is only growing with the advent of CLT, which has allowed an increasing number of commercial developments to embrace timber and all of the wellness benefits that come with it.

CLTP Australia’s CLT offering is an interesting product. CLT is typically made with softwoods, but CLTP’s offering is produced using a range of timber species, primarily a hardwood species known as Eucalyptus Nitens. According to the company, it is the world’s first commercial manufacturer of the hardwood species CLT, which has superior strength and span capability compared to other locally and internationally produced softwood CLT products.

The hardwood CLT was recently used in a high-performance home built in Birregurra, Victoria. According to CLTP, the original design allowed for a 6.5m span and a 250mm thick cassette roof panel system to be installed on-site with a post fixed plywood ceiling. However, a redesign allowed the incorporation of CLT roof panels with an overall thickness of 125mm. The

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nature of the CLT product eliminated the need for any post fixing of the visual grade timber appearance system, not to mention the fact that the entire roof could be installed in just two days.

Timber battens are another popular choice in Australian design, and can be a great way to spruce up an otherwise unattractive structure.

However, the cost and ongoing maintenance of timber can be a deterrent, which is why timber alternatives are growing in popularity.

A good example of this can be seen in the recently-built Canberra Metro substations. The initial 12km line of Canberra’s light rail system links the northern town centre of Gungahlin to the city centre with 13 stops, and there are five substations along the way that convert electricity from the grid into power for the light rail vehicles.

It was important that the substations were located close to the track, but unfortunately, they are not aesthetically pleasing structures.

Therefore, the architects decided to create a 4.4-metre-high panelled screen to surround the sub-stations and create an eye-catching facade.

The big challenge was meeting the brief to find the right-sized sustainable materials that could withstand the ACT’s harsh climate

and keep ongoing maintenance costs low.

The architects ended up specifying timber alternative battens from Futurewood, which undertook a special process to cut battens from a rectangular piece of wood with virtually no waste. The end result was the aesthetically pleasing multi-directional timber effect that the architects were looking for, within the budget specified by the client.

Another good example of a timber alternative product is Innowood’s recyclable timber cladding solution. According to the company, the 100 percent recyclable product is resistant to termites, water and fire, and is an effective way to improve energy efficiency in a build.

The product was used in a stunning new build for Sydney’s Taronga Zoo – a five-star hotel located in the Taronga Wildlife Reserve.

The architect’s vision was to connect people with the site’s nature and animals, blurring the boundaries between them. The brief requested strictly sustainable materials, including rainwater harvesting and recycled products such as Innowood’s timber alternative cladding, with the intent to educate visitors on the importance of environmental protection

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It’s not glamorous, but insulation is a very important part of designing an energy-efficient structure. And if it can be made from safe, recyclable materials, that’s even better.

One interesting product is Durra Panel’s wall and ceiling board, which is made from wheat and rice straw, and requires no additional chemical adhesives, glues or resins in the manufacturing process. In addition, it requires no water or gas and produces no toxic waste. It can also be composted or recycled at the end of its lifespan, making it a highly sustainable solution.

The product is currently being used in the #GreenHouseByJoost project that is currently under construction at Melbourne’s Federation Square. Durra Panel is being used as the base layer of the roof system as well as the internal walls, flooring and ceiling of the building.

Designer Joost Bakker is a sustainable visionary whose design philosophy is always to start with the end of a design’s lifecycle in mind. That is, to give the building a purposeful life and only use construction materials that can

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be reused and/or repurposed to avoid future waste. Durra Panel fits this brief, in that once the project’s design life has been reached, the Durra Panels can be reused in other buildings or alternatively, can be mulched down and returned back into the soil that they came from as a conditioner to enhance the growth of more food – thus completing the cycle of sustainable design.

Speaking of insulation properties, ‘K Residence’ by The Colour Royale Design Group (TCR Design) is an example of how autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) can be used to provide fire protection while also creating a comfortable living environment. Sitting on the edge of bushland in the Dunsborough region of WA, the home is in a BAL-40 zone and required building products that would satisfy fire safety requirements without compromising style or functionality. Hebel was specified for its high fire rating at BAL-FZ, as well as for its thermal and energy efficiency.

“A key feature of the design was to achieve a solar passive house – there is no air conditioning so orientation is an important part of its design,” says Aaron King, founder and principal designer at TCR Design.

“The home is north-facing and the choice to use Hebel, combined with insulated glass, means we were able to keep the temperature in the house really consistent. Simply there is no need for air conditioning to cool or heat the place.”

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INSULATION IS THE KEY TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERIORS Strictly interior products such as flooring and kitchen counters also have an important role to play in sustainable design. Architects and designers must consider not just the building’s impact on the environment, but also its impact on the people inhabiting it.

This was certainly the case with A.B. Patterson College, a state-of-the-art private school based in Arundel, Queensland. The school’s new Winton Centre spans over 4,500sqm across three levels, housing multi-functional spaces catering for early learning students and prepyear 12 students, as well as teachers and parents.

The idea behind the structure was to create a space that would be beneficial to the physical and mental health of its occupants, and to demonstrate the importance of sustainable and responsibly sourced materials.

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SUPPLIERS Tasmanian Timber architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/tasmanian-timber Durra Panel architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/durra-panel Interface architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/interface-aust Innowood architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/innowood Hebel architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/hebel Futurewood architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/futurewood Bettastone bettastone.com.au/ James Hardie architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/james-hardie-australia

BELOW ExoTec Vero was used recently in a boutique residential development in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood, where the brief was to design a building that would nestle harmoniously within the natural landscape while maximising

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views over the treetop canopies towards the Lane Cove River.

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The architects specified Interface’s Net Effect carpet, which is designed to emulate the patterns of the ocean. Net Effect has also been created from a system that takes back discarded fishing nets, creating a ripple effect for cleaner oceans, less virgin materials used, and a new source of income for some of the world’s poorest coastal communities.

Interface’s Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) was also selected for its high-performing nature, offering dimensional stability and durability that resists scratching and scuffing in challenging environments. According to Interface, the building’s use of 100 percent carbon neutral floors meant that emissions equivalent to a car travelling 141,732km were saved from entering Earth’s atmosphere — almost three times the circumference of the earth.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that there is a sustainable and safe solution for kitchen benchtops and splashbacks – something that specifiers need to take note of. As we all know, the long-term health impacts of installing traditional kitchen benchtops can be severe, and if there is a safer solution then there is no reason to continue specifying dangerous products.

Betta Stone produces solutions for kitchen benchtops and splashbacks made with 100% recycled glass and binding agent. According to the company, the glass in its products is made from molten crystalline silica, limestone and soda ash. When the glass is crushed, the nature of any dust generated will be of an amorphous, not crystalline, structure and the concentration of the respirable fraction of this dust is miniscule. As such, there is no possibility of exposure to respirable crystalline silica and the possibility of exposure to dust from recycled crushed glass is very small.

According to Betta Stone, with the use of its products, the average kitchen/pantry rescues 800 bottles from going to landfill – which is probably why these sustainable alternatives have been used in sustainability-conscious stores such as Woolworths and the T2 tea franchise.

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P R O M O T I O N F E AT U R E

Addressing the Australian water crisis: A guide to water efficiency and sustainability in bathroom design

CAROMA.COM.AU / A & D x C aro m a /

The Regulatory Framework The regulatory framework governing bathroom design and specification includes: • the National Construction Code (including the Plumbing Code of Australia); • the WaterMark Certification Scheme; • the Water Efficiency Labelling Standards (WELS), a mandatory water efficiency product labelling scheme; and • sustainable building certification schemes, such as GreenStar and NABERS. Key Design Considerations Sustainable bathroom design requires choosing water-efficient showerheads, toilets and taps. For a standard four-person household,

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replacing a showerhead that flows at 15L/ min with a WELS 3-star showerhead at 9L/ min saves approximately 70kL each year. A WELS 4-star shower at 6L/min would save approximately 105kL each year.

Replacing a single-flush toilet that uses 12L per flush with a 4-star dual-flush toilet flushing 4.5L for full flush and 3L for reduced flush (with an average 3.3L flush) results in significant water savings. Leading manufacturers offer toilets achieving a WELS 5-star rating featuring an average flush of 3L with an integrated handbasin.

Low flow taps can reduce tap water use from a standard 9L/min to 4.5L/min and to as little as 2L/min using WELS 6-star tapware.

Rainwater Harvesting and Greywater Systems Households can further reduce water consumption by installing a rainwater harvesting or greywater reuse system. Depending on water quality, rainwater or greywater can be used for domestic purposes including irrigation, toilet flushing, and clothes washing.

Boosting Your Sustainability Credentials Identify manufacturers with extensive development and testing capabilities and a demonstrable commitment to sustainability.

These companies will more likely deliver sustainable solutions that meet Australian standards for quality, performance and water efficiency.

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Extended droughts, low rainfalls, and increasing supply demands have raised the question – will Australia’s major cities run out of water? As showers, taps and toilets are the biggest water consumers in the average home, more sustainable bathroom design and specification is needed.

Caroma Caroma is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of sanitaryware and bathroom products. With 75 years of experience, the company believes that bathrooms should be beautiful, easy to use and built on a foundation of innovation, performance and sustainability.

Caroma has a long history of collaborating with water authorities and plumbing industry bodies to develop innovative water-saving solutions in the shower, toilet and tapware categories.

DOWNLOAD THE WHITEPAPER bit.ly/Caroma_20Q4

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The way to a water wise future

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WORDS MATTHEW MCDONALD

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Designed and manufactured in Australia by Everhard, Easydrain Edge is a drainage system that is suitable for installation under the surface of patios, swimming pools, balconies, and other outdoor areas. While it remains invisible and provides a seamless finish to tiles and pavers, it does not compromise on water collection requirements.

The system works with all heights and sizes of pavers, can be retrofitted to existing Easydrain channel and, because it is manufactured from 100 percent recycled polymer, is rust free.

Designed with click-together technology and moulded in-outlets, it is easy to install.

Adhering to AS1428, the drainage system features a heel friendly insert that allows it to convert into an accessible system.

A small slot located in the drainage grate reduces the chance of debris entering the channel and therefore reduces blockages. Less trapped debris means less trapped water and lowers the risk of mould. In addition, the system features an access pit that simplifies the cleaning process.

On top of negating the damaging effects of unchecked stormwater, Easydrain Edge’s sustainability credentials are boosted by the fact that, as a polymer product, it effectively replaces more problematic stainless steel and galvanised materials options, which are prone to rusting and therefore require frequent replacing. Easydrain Edge’s lifecycle is further extended by a UV stabiliser that protects it from premature degradation.

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LEFT Will Swann, Unsplash.

‘Stormwater’ is something of a misnomer. Far more than just rainwater, it contains everything from organic matter and fertiliser to oil residues and chemical pollutants. And it results in the eventual disposal of all these materials into waterways and out to sea.

Effective stormwater management, as prioritised in an approach known as watersensitive urban design (WSUD), is a means of minimising these negative impacts.

Products, such as Stormtech’s 100TiXi20TML linear drainage system, can greatly reduce the negative impact on waterways. The consistent drain flow it provides ensures material debris

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and pollutants are not collected, absorbed, and conveyed during heavy downpours.

A 100mm wide tile insert drain, the 100TiXi20MTL allows tiles of up to 10mm, offering a shallow channel profile of just 23mm total depth. Made-to-length from 316 marine grade stainless steel, it can be finished in a range of metallic and powder coated colours.

It is designed and manufactured in Australia and carries Greentag and Watermark certification.

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According to the Climate Council, the increased regularity and severity of draught is negatively impacting Australia’s water security. The bad news is that the trend, which began midway through last century, is expected to continue.

Water scarcity is likely to present not just ecological challenges, but also challenges to the agricultural sector and urban water supply.

It is essential, therefore, that Australian becomes water wise. As a nation, we need to make every drop of water count. We need to use only what we need and, where appropriate, come up with smart ways to harvest and re-use our water.

Conservation is only part of the Australian sustainability story. Wastewater management and stormwater are two other important considerations, as are the use of sustainable materials, manufacturing processes, and product disposal/recycling strategies.

If sustainability is the goal, it is necessary to tick several boxes. An important way to do so, at least in the urban context, is to employ suitable water management, drainage, and plumbing systems. Whether they are installed in our homes, offices or public spaces, products like real-time metering solutions, drainage systems, greywater tanks, leak-detection devices, smart showers, touchless faucets have real roles to play in sustainable water management.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

While the insecurity of Australia’s water supply has a range of environmental and social implications, there are also several ways to address it. These include the use of the latest water management and plumbing products.

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Water scarcity is likely to present not just ecological challenges, but also challenges to the agricultural sector and urban water supply.

ABOVE Products, such as Stormtech’s 100TiXi20TML linear drainage

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system, can greatly reduce the negative impact on waterways.

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The Intelligent Shower and Eco Valve is the latest addition to Caroma’s Smart Command eco-system, a portfolio of Bluetooth enabled, cloud connected smart bathroom fixtures which provide building managers with data and insights into their buildings water usage.

It enables informed, proactive decision making to provide better experiences for users, predict maintenance and help save water.

The Intelligent Shower’s touchscreen operation enables precise thermostatic temperature control as-well-as displaying shower duration and water usage to encourage shorter showers.

Available in a single port which allows the operation of a singular shower fixture, a dual port which can divert between an overhead and hand shower, or a three port Eco variant which gives the user the ability to recapture water while the thermostatic mixer is reaching the desired temperature and helps ensure every last drop of water is saved.

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The Smart Command Eco Valve is an Australian first of its kind. When installed within a bathroom plumbing system it can be programmed to detect unplanned excessive water flow, isolate the issue and send alerts directly to the building manager so that quick decisions can be made on how best to react.

of accidental operation caused by reflection or passing traffic is eliminated.

User friendly and ergonomically designed, the sensor taps can run on either mains or battery power and can be mounted to benches or walls.

BILLI

Supertube technology, a drainage solution by Geberit, utilises optimised hydraulics to create a simplified and more efficient system while providing more living and commercial space.

The system is a combination of three key parts.

The shape of the Geberit Sovent fitting offsets the wastewater discharge causing it to rotate and flow down along the pipe wall with a stable column of air in the centre (referred to as an annular flow).

The second part is the Geberit BottomTurn bend. Located where the flow changes from vertical to horizontal, this converts the annular flow and directs the wastewater to become a horizontal layered flow without disrupting the air column.

Boasting a 6-star WELS rating, Billi’s sensor tap range can be relied upon to minimise water wastage. The range is recommended for use in food preparation, healthcare, aged care, residential bathrooms, childcare, schools, universities, and commercial washrooms, and is available in three designs (each of which offers chrome, brushed, matte black and brushed brass models).

Unlike other products, the taps’ electronic sensors are built into the spout. Therefore, not only will flow not operate unless there is hand movement in the wash zone, but the possibility

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LEFT Supertube technology, a drainage solution

by Geberit, utilises optimised hydraulics to create a simplified and more efficient system while

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providing more living and commercial space.

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The third part, the Geberit BackFlip bend leads the discharge to an optimised transition from the horizontal to the vertical pipe. The bend gives the wastewater the required swirl so that the annular flow can then resume without disrupting the air column.

Together, the technology allows smaller diameter pipes to be used. In addition, the resulting optimised flow means that no additional parallel ventilation pipes are required. This means that significantly fewer stacks are required, and fewer materials used.

The system is manufactured using highdensity polyethylene (HDPE), a robust piping material. The connection technologies guarantee permanent tightness and high tensile strength.

The use of ready-to-use compounds guarantees that HDPE and all additives fully conform to health and environment regulations in accordance with EN 15804. The production of HDPE pipes does not generate any waste because scraps and off-spec products can be re-introduced into the same process or used in less demanding applications.

HDPE pipes have a useful service life of at least 100 years and, as one of the easiest plastic polymers to recycle, HDPE is accepted at most recycling centres.

On top of that, Supertube technology is manufactured using electrofusion welding to join the pipes and relevant fittings. Unlike other process, which can involve toxic solvents, this process involves no dangerous fumes.

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SANIFLO

An important step in integrated urban water management, rainwater harvesting and the use of water tanks can play a critical role in reducing pressure on water supply infrastructure.

An efficient, supplemental source of water for non-potable uses, such as toilet flushing, irrigation and laundry use, rainwater harvesting is also an effective means of stormwater management. Because it captures water for later use without the need to pump it from the mains system it is an effective way to reduce water bills.

The installation of water tanks ensures homeowners are less affected by water restrictions during periods of shortage and, in the long run, it reduces the need to build new dams or desalination plans and helps reduce water infrastructure costs.

Kingspan has manufactured and supplied long lasting water tanks and accessories made with Aquaplate steel to Australian homes and businesses for 85 years. Custom made to order, the tanks are available in four different shapes and can be specified in the full range of Colorbond colours.

Sustainable water management is not a one-size-fits-all prospect. As the case of a multistorey timber development in search of an adaptable, multilocation plumbing solution for its commercial tenants illustrates, it requires not just a broad understanding of environmental issues and goals, but also well-informed design and product choices.

One of the most exciting architectural developments is the resurgence of timber use in the construction of tall buildings. Timber construction has significant environmental advantages. It is strong, renewable, reduces biodiversity loss and it is more sustainable in terms of embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions than concrete or steel. And, as a plentiful, natural material, it offers opportunities for climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration.

However, the construction of timber buildings also presents unique challenges, including the need to limit core drilling that may compromise or degrade the integrity of the structure.

When the hydraulic engineering team were consulted about the project, they recommended the developer design each floor plan to accommodate each client’s preferred kitchen location. Given the building is made of timber with limited core drilling capacity, a creative plumbing solution was needed.

Saniflo’s solution to the problem – Sanicom 2, a dual-motor lifting station for draining wastewater – had the added benefit of offering design flexibility, and useful cost savings.

The twin motor Sanicom 2 has duty load sharing capabilities allowing for second motor redundancy and extended service life. The second motor relieves the first by engaging when excess water enters the pump. The ability of the pump to adapt to any location with no drilling required made it the obvious solution to meet the varying requirements of the clients.

BELOW Designed and manufactured in Australia by Everhard, Easydrain Edge is a drainage system that is suitable for installation under the surface of patios, swimming pools, balconies, and other outdoor areas.

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KINGSPAN

SUPPLIERS Stormtech architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/stormtech Everhard architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/everhard-industries Caroma architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/caroma Billi architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/billi-australia Geberit architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/geberit 74

Kingspan architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/kingspan-water-energy Saniflo architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/saniflo

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P R O M O T I O N F E AT U R E

Made in Australia: Stormtech’s innovative spirit and commitment to delivering highest quality product

STORMTECH.COM.AU / A & D X S tormtech /

Aussie-made Ethos Founded 35 years ago, Stormtech is an award-winning, family-owned specialised drainage business that has stayed true to

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its core values of Australian-led design, innovation and quality. Stormtech’s dedication to the Australian-made ethos has brought them recognition across the industry. Buying locally has also kept them afloat throughout the COVID period, avoiding the supply chain issues befalling other manufacturers.

The company’s longstanding commitment to high-quality products is being reflected across the industry. Poor manufacturing results in costly building defects, so there is an industry trend towards using certified, higher-quality and locally-made materials.

Stormtech uses marine-grade 316 stainless steel for its drains and grates, which is durable and long-lasting. For modular kits systems, as well as stainless steel, Stormtech turns to virgin uPVC that is certified by Global Green Tag and the Vinyl Council of Australia.

Flexibility of Product and Service Stormtech offers a range of made-to-length drainage solutions that are easy to customise.

The company has extensive expertise with domestic codes and standards, and works closely with designers and specifiers to achieve the specific requirements of each project.

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Cheap labour and materials overseas and fluctuations across local and global economies have encouraged Australian manufacturing companies to move their operations overseas to maximise their profits. But has this come at the cost of product quality?

Australia’s advanced regulatory environment ensures that locally manufactured products are completed to a very high standard with workers fairly treated and compensated – a stark contrast to conditions in other countries.

It is up to individual business owners to prioritise supply chain visibility and quality assurance over the financial benefits of manufacturing overseas. Australian drainage designer, manufacturer and supplier Stormtech has stuck to the Australian-made ethos – and is reaping the benefits.

Locally-Made Looks Good From horizontal and vertical lines to tessellating hexagonal patterns, to tile inlays that allow the drains to be almost entirely camouflaged within the design, one of Stormtech’s key differentiators has always been the visual appeal of their drains.

The Future is Bright Stormtech firmly believes that the higher quality offered by locally-made products will ultimately outweigh financial gains. The company’s focus on domestic innovation, reinventing production, and developing new manufacturing methods will inspire Australian industry long into the future.

VISIT STORMTECH stormtech.com.au

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WORDS BRANKO MILETIC

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Energy and buildings – New technology lights the way

Sometimes it’s the small yet ultimately profound changes in our daily life that put a smile on our faces, or even money in our wallets. Like when the rooftop is powering the washing machine, for example. Energy and how we use it is central to the story of how we should be designing our buildings.

In fact, it should also be central to our way of life.

BUILDINGS ARE ENERGY HOGS Let’s be honest here – buildings consume a large quantity of energy. In Australia, according to Science Direct, buildings account for 20 percent of the total measured energy consumption. The big picture suggests that globally, commercial and residential buildings combined account for about 40 percent of all energy consumption.

No wonder then, that products continue to come to market, helping defray the economic and environmental impact. And starting at the top, collecting solar energy from rooftops, while not a new concept, is an evolving yet integral market.

Consumers have previously found the glass photovoltaic rooftop collectors an eyesore, an ugly accessory plonked on top of otherwise attractive buildings. Add to that their reputation as being fragile (whether well-founded or not) formed a second barrier to take-up, with high cost being the final straw that kept many builders away from an important energy source.

INTEGRATION IS THE KEY

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The development of the far subtler, buildingintegrated photovoltaic products such as the Monier solar roofing range addresses all of those objections, while fulfilling its major role, that is, collecting energy.

Monier has partnered with Bradford to create inline solar, where the panels are integrated into rooflines. Compatible with concrete and terracotta roof designs that also offer intelligent monitoring of performance in real-time – yes, the roof can talk to you.

According to Monier, the tiles have full battery compatibility with Tesla Powerwall 2 that also allows users to take the power of the solar roof further, thereby, as the company says, “maximising your return on a solar roofing investment.”

The integrated panels have been engineered to create a stylish, low-profile look that is made to blend perfectly with a roofline, as well as remaining strong and watertight.

No solar conversation is complete without a mention of Tesla, and yes, they too have a photovoltaic roof tile and though available in the United States, they are considerably harder to source in Australia.

They are also newer to the market, and perhaps more suited to the commercial arena given the greater area of things such as solar facades, along with building curtains optimising their dynamic, solar-harvest potential.

‘Solar windows’, or ‘power windows’ as they are sometimes called, will surely soon become a popular eco-sensitive product, in both residential and commercial design.

27/10/20 4:50 pm

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN / Practical / O C T- D E C 2 0 2 0

ABOVE Monier has partnered with Bradford to create inline solar, where the panels are integrated into rooflines.

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“Solar panels,” says ClearVue’s Victor Rosenberg, “are not windows.”

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A large player in the take-up of commercial solar products is the Vicinity Centres Group, which has committed to $73 million of investment in shopping centre solar – the largest project of its kind in Australia—across 22 centres with a total capacity of 31 megawatts.

The groups’ use of rooftop solar across their parking structure acreage has been enormously successful and popular.

They recently ventured into new ground by partnering with the Australian tech firm ClearVue Technologies to launch a global first trial of a clear solar glass structure installed at their Warwick Grove shopping Centre in Western Australia. The property’s existing glass atrium was replaced by a new structure that used the ClearVue photovoltaic glass, which collects infra-red light and deflects it to the surface edge where it is converted to electricity.

Vicinity Centres executive general manager, Shopping Centre Management Justin Mills, says “We’re excited to be trialling such innovative, leading-edge technology and embarking on a global first in solar energy application.

SOLAR PANELS ARE NOT WINDOWS...

OR ARE THEY? “Solar panels,” says ClearVue’s Victor Rosenberg, “are not windows. Our PV glass are windows that can be used anywhere, in any building where windows are used.”

With growing urbanisation, the energy real estate offered by ‘glass’ energy harvesting seems an obvious product line to pursue.

According to the company, this patented technology allows visible light to pass through a pane of glass, while the invisible wavelengths of light are deflected to the edges of the glass where they are converted into electricity.

“ClearVue PV technology can transform a glass building into a massive solar panel, generating power where it’s needed, reducing power transmission requirements across large distances. Our technology is cost effective, environmentally friendly, and provides a sustainable and innovative new power generation capacity,” the company says.

The best new technologies also offer flexibility - ClearVue PV says that its products also have the potential to add efficiency to automobiles, public transport, agriculture and mobile electronic devices.

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What about the waste caused by products that work too well or the excess energy harvested by the homes and buildings? Feeding back to the grid, while an admirable concept, however, does not allow consumers to easily (or reliably) access the power when needed during peak times, and to an extent voids financial savings.

Which is why battery technology is literally the ‘missing link’ in this ‘renewable renaissance’.

HOME POWER WALLS Batteries for both cars and houses have become ecologically-approved purchases and the range available has increased accordingly though the name uppermost in customer’s minds is still of course, Tesla.

According to the home and car battery maker, “Powerwall is a home battery system that turns your home’s solar panels into an all-day resource - increasing self-consumption of solar - while also offering backup in the event of an outage. Powerwall enables more of your home’s electricity use to come from solar, which enhances solar functionality and reduce energy costs.”

Tesla has made charging stations and batteries look almost seductive and branding the residential batteries as ‘power walls’ was a brilliant piece of marketing that somehow brought the utilitarian device a sort of tantalising reputation that government departments (and other dreary products) dream about.

But of course, they are not the only players in the battery field with Samsung, Sony and Pylontech brands in the same league.

It’s a complicated field to delve into.

There are off and on-grid batteries, and the inverter/charger add-ons make it no easier to grasp and compare.

Put in the simplest of terms, in residential design, the heart of an off-grid AC system is the battery inverter/charger. It must reliably meet the power requirements of the appliances under all conditions, while monitoring the charging and energy flow.

The market is of course expanding, and the technology is shifting fast. The investment for purchasers is high and the lifespan of the batteries is variable. The overall message here is research is paramount when delving into the battery product line.

An independent survey was commissioned in 2016, situated in the calculating corridors of Canberra, with an aim to quantify efficiency and reliability of the product. The test ran for three years and compared 18 brands of solar batteries.

According to Choice Magazine, some batteries failed to actually make it past the finishing post, but (and here’s the good news) -many met and some even exceeded marketing claims.

For the record, Tesla’s Powerwall, along with Samsung, Sony, BYD and Pylontech all received good reviews from the test.

A COMMUNITY OF BATTERIES As we all know, if you can create large enough demand, products and processes will be developed to answer the call. Enter community batteries. This is the new road to sustainable power for suburbs and urban developments both old and brand new. Community batteries are a battery solution that allows subscribers to use all the clean energy they generate with their own solar harvesting device, and store excess energy in a very large, communal battery that sits down the road, or on the oval or at a street corner without needing to own or maintain an expensive battery system.

Of course, this plan has to be developed in consultation and collaboration with local councils. Although not yet widely available, Western Power in WA is currently testing the system at 11 sites across the state.

“Absolutely everyone is excited by it” says Western Energy’s Paul Entwhistle. “The best part is that it can be retrofitted to existing suburbs, as well as being incorporated into future developments.”

In this format, the size of the storage allows for the collected energy to be great enough that it powers not only homes but can be expanded to street lighting. They are hoping in the not too distant future to incorporate and expand their power offering to street lighting that is time reflective; using IoT to lower luminosity savings during low traffic periods. Saving both money and power for the household clusters. The incentives are clear and could only be an added incentive for solar power take up.

Ausgrid is hoping to get its first community battery operating by 2021 and suggests that future members of community batteries may be able to trade their excess kilowatts.

29/10/20 1:04 pm

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As we all know, if you can create large enough demand, products and processes will be developed to answer the call.

Residential savings at this early stage are said to be between $200 and $500 per annum.

“Australian households invested in almost two-and-a-half “Big Batteries” worth of home energy storage in 2019, installing 22,661 systems over the course of the year with a total capacity of 233MWh, and taking further control over their energy supply.” As reported in the 2020 Australia Battery Market Report, “1 in 13 Australian solar households also have battery storage, or 7.9 percent.”

Once installed, the battery and a connected home energy monitor coordinate charge and discharge around rooftop solar production and electricity rates. In the case of an outage, the battery can still power devices that are plugged into it.

“Orison’s consumer-scale modular batteries are designed to make energy storage accessible and affordable to all energy customers, including renters in apartments and multifamily dwellings, while empowering customers, improving grid resilience and accelerating a smarter energy future,” a statement said.

“Access to cheap and ubiquitous solar power and storage will transform the way we produce and use power, allowing electrification of the transport sector,” says Stranks.

LIGHTING AS ART AND AN ENVIRONMENTAL SAVIOUR

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Flexible LEDs these days are more like art than lighting.

“It’s been proven than a person over 60 needs 4 times the amount of light to read than a teenager…and we have an awful lot more people over 60 these days. You need colour change, but also intensity change in lights,” according to Trend Lighting’s Nicholas Spyrakis. “Most retailers pump a lot of light out. Consumers

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respond to different light levels. Lighting is a vital part of successful retail experience – the light sets the tone, the atmosphere before a customer even steps inside,” says Spyrakis.

“Look at Apple stores for example, and when you do, you see that the retail store is not where most of the buying happens. But the branding, the feeling, is what the store customers take away – and then buy online.”

“They are branded to be cultural hubs,” Spyrakis says.

According to Sam Stranks, lecturer in Energy and Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Cambridge and a cofounder of Swift Solar, Inc., “The demand for cheaper, greener electricity means that the energy landscape is changing faster than at any other point in history. This is particularly true of solar-powered electricity and battery storage. The cost of both has dropped at unprecedented rates over the past decade and energy efficient technologies such as LED lighting have also expanded.”

“A standard 50-Watt halogen downlight globe can now be replaced with a 7 Watt LED, equating to an 86 percent savings,” says Alison Pike from Gineico Lighting, adding that, “A standard halogen globe lasts between 2,00010,000 hours whereas an LED equivalent last 25,000-50,000 hours.”

According to Pierlite, when it comes to energy savings, it’s not just about the LEDs, but also the sensors they use.

“There is high and increasing interest in sensors that not only switch the lights on and off when they sense no occupancy in an area, they can also ramp up and down depending on the daylight in that area. This means the lighting and maintenance costs go down due to less kilowatt hours required,” says Karlie Meredith, head of Marketing, Pierlite Australia.

“Internet of Things (IoT) sensor solutions such as our own Pierlite Connect solution, give building owners enhanced visibility on their investment by tracking people and assets.

These sorts of enterprise management systems that deliver value to commercial real estate by creating intelligent environments which are: more sustainable by minimising energy consumption, more valuable as property if efficiently utilised and more productive because people perform better in an optimal environment,” says Meredith.

In terms of actual savings, the company’s electrical engineer Sid Gaurav says, “With the new National Construction Code (NCC) Section J6 updates, sensors have become even more compelling from an energy efficiency and compliance prospective” For a typical motion and daylight sensor, the energy savings can only be estimated as the savings are typically based on human activity or day light presence, notes Gaurav.

SMALLER PRODUCTS HAVE BIG IMPACTS They call it the ‘engineering evolution of products’, and they do it with style. While being the worldwide dynamo of vacuuming, the Dyson engineering team has examined their highly successful products and continued to refine and expand on the brand, hence the term ‘evolution’.

At a time when we are spending more and more time in our homes, and concern for our health uppermost in our minds, Dyson comes through with their lean engineering.

According to a Dyson spokesperson, “Highly efficient motors are the key to less energy-hungry products. In 2002, Dyson engineers began to reinvent conventional

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NO SENSOR (TRADITIONAL BATTEN VS LED BATTEN) Luminaires

Qty

W

Total KW

Hr/Day

D/wk

KWH

Traditional Batten

1

80

0.08

24

7

699

LED Batten

1

40

0.04

24

7

349

40

0.04

Savings

350

ENERGY SAVINGS Total Energy Savings

350 KWH (per annum)

Maximum Demand Reduction

0.04 KW

Green House Gass Emission Reduction

0.3737 Tonnes CO2-e (per annum)

Savings from power Reduction @ 23cents

$81

SENSOR (TRADITIONAL BATTEN VS LED WITH SENSOR) Luminaires

W

Total KW

Hr/Day

D/wk

KWH

1

80

0.08

24

7

699

LED Batten with Sensor*

1

20

0.02

24

7

175

60

0.06

Savings

350

ENERGY SAVINGS 524 KWH (per annum)

Maximum Demand Reduction

0.06 KW

Green House Gass Emission Reduction

0.559 Tonnes CO2-e (per annum)

Savings from power Reduction @ 23cents

$121

/

Total Energy Savings

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Qty

Traditional Batten

P ractical

*Maximum 40w and Avg estimate 20w for motion and daylight sensor.

TABLE Courtesy Sid Gaurav / Pierlite.

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BUILDING INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAICS (BIPVS) MIGHT BE THE ANSWER BIPVs are actually part of the roofing material and designed to be discreetly integrated with similar-looking non-solar tiles.

They have a number of advantages, including no need to drill holes in the roof to install them, they are not bolted onto the roof, so there’s no extra strain from natural wind flow, much more resistant to cyclonic winds than solar panels, and in strength and impact testing for hail damage, they often perform as well or better than conventional roofing materials.

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Although BIPV tiles or solar PVs as they are also known are pricier than solar panels, it’s likely they’ll remain attractive to high-end, architectdesigned houses with slate-or ceramic-tiled roofs.

But, as with all technologies, once their scale of production increases the cost usually does fall.

Interestingly, the solar efficiency of solar PVs is the proportion of sunlight energy hitting the tile or panel that’s converted into electricity (the higher the better) and usually sits in a range of 15–20 percent.

The solar PV inverter is a device that converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a solar PV panel or tile into a usable alternating current (AC) that can be used in the home or sent to the electrical grid. Money-wise, the inverter is usually about 20 percent of the solar system’s cost, but varies with quality.

Managing the energy usage in buildings is a multi-layered, multi-faceted and relatively complex issue requiring much research, knowledge and of course, expertise. However, if managed correctly, it can have significant benefits for both homeowners, companies and the environment alike.

SUPPLIERS Monier architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/ monier-roofing ClearVue Technologies clearvuepv.

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motors, investing heavily in research and development to make them smaller, lighter and more efficient.”

“The first Dyson digital motor was half the size and weight of conventional motors which are big, traditional, heavy, as well as being faster and lasting up to four times longer. This has been central to the energy reduction we have achieved in our products as well as fundamental changes to the format of our machines.”

com/ Tesla architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/ tesla-electrical Trend Lighting architectureanddesign. com.au/suppliers/trend-lighting-company Dyson architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/dyson Pierlite Australia glg.lighting/about-glg/our-brands/pierlite/ Gineico Lighting architectureanddesign.com.au/ suppliers/gineico-lighting

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Talking Architecture & Design One of Australia’s oldest and best podcasts for finding out what’s really happening in the design and built sectors.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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PODCAST CORNER

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Talking Architecture & Design is Australia’s first B2B podcast that delves into the who, what, why, when and where of the Built Environment. Launched in 2017 as part of the Architecture & Design publishing and news network, Talking Architecture & Design interviews industry leaders, innovators, personalities and a range of industry movers and shakers. With no subject that is off-limits, we talk to those that not only make change happen, but also those that turn that change into industry norms and trends.

EPISODE 57: CHRISTIAN HAMPSON, CO-FOUNDER OF YERRABINGIN, ON URBAN ROOFTOP FARMS, INDIGENOUS BUSHFIRE MITIGATION & SUSTAINABILITY

EPISODE 56: NICCI LEUNG FROM LIFEPOD EVOLUTION ON HOW DATA, AUTOMATION & AI INFLUENCE SUSTAINABILITY

EPISODE 55: TONE WHEELER ON SOCIAL HOUSING AND DO WE NEED A HOUSING CRASH TO FIX ALL OUR SOCIAL HOUSING WOES?

Christian Hampson is a Woiwurrung and Maneroo Aboriginal man interweaving Indigenous tacit knowledge and collaborative design thinking to walk a new path, away from conventional approaches, and create new opportunities for intergenerational capital to allow future Indigenous generations to thrive.

As the co-founder and Director of Yerrabingin, Hampson, who is also an Ambassador for the 2020 Sustainability Awards, talks on the need for more rooftop farms in urban environments and how Indigenous knowledge can be used far more effectively for bushfire mitigations and control.

2020 Sustainability Awards Ambassador Nicci Leung from Lifepod Evolution began her career providing design and project services to some of the most highly regarded architectural and interior design practices in Melbourne.

Combining her passions for design, innovation, and technology, Nicci’s vision for the future is a positive one, and in this episode, she talks about how technology, data, automation, and AI are all combining to play an ever-increasing role in influencing sustainability in the built environment.

In this episode of Talking Architecture & Design, architect and lecturer Tone Wheeler looks at where we went wrong with the design and build of our social housing stock.

Wheeler discusses some novel ideas to get social housing back on track in Australia and what are some examples from overseas that we could emulate, as well as wondering whether a housing crash would be the best thing to invigorate the social housing sector?

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EPISODE 1: Talking with Robin Mellon, CEO of Australia’s Supply Chain Sustainability School

One of Australia’s most well-known and most respected architects, Philip Thalis is a founder and principal of Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects, professor of practice at UNSW Sydney, and a City of Sydney councillor.

Philip’s advice and expertise have regularly been sought by government and private clients and in this episode, he talks about what we need to do to make Sydney gre at once again in terms of urbanism, liveability, and overall design.

After 30 years’ experience in the design of public space, urban design, multiple housing, infrastructure, and heritage adaptation, his insights, views, and understanding of what a modern city needs both now and in the future are incisive and unparalleled and he shares these views in this exclusive podcast.

Gerhana Waty is a well-rounded designer with a solid understanding of built form and an appreciation for viable, sustainable and pedestrian-oriented cities. She talks about how to strike the right balance between stakeholders’ interests and achieving triple bottom line outcomes through urban design practice when it comes to our urban spaces.

Gerhana Waty explains why evidence-based design and urban analytic influence quality decision making and design outcomes in a constantly evolving urban environment, more so now with the fallout from our global pandemic.

EPISODE 38: Architect and lecturer Tone Wheeler dispels myths over the reasons for our bushfire crisis EPISODE 35: Tone Wheeler on designers, ecology, education, Bali and how Australia became a hotbed of sustainable design

Top Apps (Last 5 Episodes) APPLE PODCAST

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For more information on our podcasts, go to: podcast.architectureanddesign.com.au

If you would like to be interviewed on Talking Architecture & Design, send an email to podcast@architectureanddesign.com.au

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EPISODE 53: GERHANA WATY, DIRECTOR OF URBAN DESIGN AT THE HANSEN PARTNERSHIP ON HOW HUMANS AND THEIR SPACE IS MORE CRUCIAL THAN EVER THANKS TO COVID-19

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EPISODE 54: ARCHITECT, LECTURER, AUTHOR, AND COUNCILOR PROFESSOR PHILIP THALIS TALKS ABOUT THE DESIGN OF SYDNEY, WHERE IT’S GONE WRONG & WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

PODCAST CORNER

EPISODE 48: How COVID-19 has changed the built industry, why moving to green buildings now makes sense and should building products be manufactured onshore

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EPISODE 52: Koichi Takada talks about sustainable design and how COVID-19 has forever changed how we work, live and design our buildings

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Top Episodes

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Talking Architecture & Design Podcast Uncovering what really goes on behind the scenes in the world of architecture and design‌ Episode 42: Nermine Zahran (right) talks about how it is vital to continually learn and to educate others in the industry and in the general public about ways to minimise the impact of the built environment on the planet. Zahran explains her journey from one side of the world to another and how she is currently working to make the world a better place-one sustainable design at a time.

Now available for listening on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Google, Soundcloud and Buzzsprout.

Search Talking Architecture & Design to stream or download episodes.

If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe and leave a review.

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20/10/20 3:23 pm

Product Directory

PRODUCTS

To find out more about a specific featured product or to download a related brochure please use the unique product code provided on each module and follow these 3 simple steps:

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PRODUCT CODES

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Welcome to the Architecture & Design

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Visit architectureanddesign.com.au

STEP 2

Type unique product code into search bar

STEP 3

Locate and review further product and supplier information

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STEP 1

ONLINE Visit architectureanddesign.com.au/products/oct-dec20 to view all featured products from this issue in one place

EMAIL Subscribe to the Architecture & Design eNewsletter to receive product updates, news and projects directly to your inbox architectureanddesign.com.au/subscribe

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PROCLAD SOLID NON-COMBUSTIBLE ALUMINIUM PANEL ProClad™ SOLID high quality aluminium panels are the ideal solution for any facade. The noncombustible panels come in a vast array of colours to suit a range of applications from high-rise commercial buildings to residential development.

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ProClad™ SOLID is the perfect solution for any new build as well as recladding of existing projects.

Architects, engineers, developers, builders and contractors can feel confident when specifying ProClad™ SOLID aluminium panels as they are 100% non-combustible, require low maintenance and have a high level of safety and durability.

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LUXURY CONCRETE PAVING & POOL COPING

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Products

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Enquiries: 1300 252 523 aluminiumfacadesystems.com.au

Anston is recognised in the landscape industry for the supply of exquisitely crafted cementitious paving and pool coping products. All products are sourced and made in Melbourne using varying compositions of Australia’s finest quality natural stones and sands, resulting in 25 gorgeous natural colours across four distinct paving ranges.

Pavers are typically supplied in a light, medium or heavy shot-blasted finish, resulting in a textured, slightly rough surface finish that elegantly showcases the raw beauty of concrete. Honing or polishing of pavers is also available upon request, which are techniques that result in a smoother surface.

Anston pool coping is available in three different profiles which are, listed in order of popularity, square edge, drop-down and bullnose. The key differences between Anston paving and pool coping are that coping pieces are slightly thicker than paving units (50mm versus 46mm) and are blasted on the visible coping edge as well as on the top face, compared to paving units which are only blasted on the top face.

Enquiries: 1300 788 694 anston.com.au

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28/10/20 10:56 am

BILLI FIREWALL TOWER DISPENSER Waterlogic’s Firewall® and BioCote® technologies are two key innovations which Billi now brings to the market with the new Firewall® Tower Dispenser.

Ideal for health and aged-care environments, the Firewall® Tower Dispenser is compatible with Billi’s existing Quadra range, delivering the latest in UV water purification technology whilst maintaining the convenience of instantaneous boiling and chilled water. Featuring a unique above bench tower design, the Firewall® Tower guarantees 99.99% pure water, 100% of the time. The system utilises a UV lamp uniquely positioned at the point of dispense, rendering waterborne bacteria incapable of reproduction, the moment before it is delivered.

The Firewall® Tower Dispenser also features BioCote® technology that protects surfaces against bacteria, mould and fungi.

Leveraging the antimicrobial properties of silver, BioCote® prevents the growth of microorganisms by providing surface protection from microbes which may infect, degrade or stain the surface of the unit.

Enquiries: 1800 812 321 billi.com.au architectureanddesign.com.au

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ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

The Firewall® Tower Dispenser is further evidence of Billi’s strong commitment to research and development, and our pursuit to improve user health and quality of life. Billi products meet Australian certification requirements, exceed strict health and hygiene requirements of healthcare and aged-care environments and deliver safe drinking water to patients and residents. All of this achieved while addressing their specific hydration needs and helping to protect against the spread of bacteria and disease.

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Manufactured from sustainably grown Australian and New Zealand Plantation Radiata Pine, Ecoply® is Australia’s leading brand of structural plywood. With over 30 years of manufacturing the trusted plywood brand, Carter Holt Harvey Plywood specialises in the production and supply of environmentally sustainable plywood products from their Myrtleford mill in Victoria. The state-of-the-art plywood mill employs 169 locals and has been a significant part of the community since the 1970s.

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As construction ramps up and new house starts resume, opportunities are appearing for specifiers and builders to be at the forefront of recovery. Locally made products using materials grown locally are gaining interest, not only for being easily available but also for the people they employ and the communities they support.

Products

LOCALLY MADE ECOPLY PLYWOOD

Ecoply plywood products provide durability, strength and design flexibility. Locally made products include Ecoply square edged structural, non-structural, Formrite formply and Plyfloor flooring - treated and untreated, in a wide range of grades, sizes and thicknesses. It’s a material that inspires architects and designers and is easy for builders and carpenters to work with.

As we rebuild the economy for future generations, it really is local products such as Ecoply that will support its growth. At least we know it will be structurally sound.

Enquiries: 1800 338 463 chhply.com.au CH4530

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Photograph by Christine Francis

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VENTURE PLANK: THE PROFESSIONALS CHOICE IN TIMBER FLOORING Havwoods Venture Plank range of products are premium-quality, high-performance engineered timber flooring planks characterised by a comprehensive spectrum of interesting shades and a beautiful, smooth finish.

Produced in Europe, these hardwood engineered oak boards are amongst the very best in the world. Venture Plank features a tongue and groove profile, micro-bevelled edges and comes in a beautiful variety of brushed, sanded, smoked and stained finishes.

Ideal for hard-wearing performance and durability across residential, retail, hospitality and commercial spaces as cladding or flooring, Venture Plank products are available in 13mm, 19mm or 20mm plank thickness.

Features & Benefits: • 6 stunning new colours have recently been added to the Venture Plank range • Exceptional durability with 25 year residential warranty • 20mm planks are Cradle-to-Cradle Certified™ Bronze • Our most popular colours available in 260mm wider planks • New Valour UV oiled finish options excels in stain and impact resistance O C T- D E C 2 0 2 0

• Tongue and groove profile with micro-bevelled edges • Suitable for glue-down installations • Ideal for residential, retail and hospitality, high-volume apartment projects, and commercial office spaces

architectureanddesign.com.au

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EASYCRAFT’S EXPRESSIONS SERIES

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Products

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Enquiries: 1300 428 966 havwoods.com/au

Easycraft’s Expression Series offers a range of decorative finishes which provide the latest in contemporary styling, offering stunning and versatile aesthetics to any project. Create your desired atmosphere and bold design features with patterns that will suit a variety of spaces.

Add a touch of style with the range of patterns available in the expression series. All patterns are offered on general purpose pre-primed boards or veneer finishes, meaning you can combine the pattern with your chosen palette. The only limit is your imagination.

The Expression’s series features unique, grooved patterns which provide designers new opportunities in commercial and residential projects.

Whether this be creating impactful spaces for restaurants, cafes, and stores, or enhancing bland feature walls in residential applications.

Enquiries: 07 3906 7200 easycraft.com.au

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28/10/20 10:56 am

BUILDERS SELECTIONS: ON TREND PORCELAIN TILES FOR COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS The Rocks On Builders Selection ranges have been curated as a cost effective solution in delivering quality fit for purpose floor & wall tiles that are not only affordable for large multi residential and commercial developments, but also on trend in design and format - with all the necessary slip rating certifications that comply to Australian Standards for all internal and external flooring applications, including various 20mm thick porcelain paver options.

These ranges comprise of technical rectified porcelain for floor applications and quality ceramics for wall applications - with many selections being in stock and ready for immediate delivery.

Those ranges that are indent, only require a 4 week turnaround from order to delivery, including the Waterworld series of porcelain swimming pool tiles.

Rocks On also have the ability to develop bespoke porcelain and ceramic tiles to suit any project design and budget.

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RO4216

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Enquiries: 02 8303 0100 rockson.com.au/builders

O C T- D E C 2 0 2 0

At the heart of every Invisi-Gard security screen and security door is our high tensile 316 marine grade stainless steel mesh which sets the world standard in terms of its quality, precision and longevity. Invisi-Gard security doors and screens are without question the best investment for your family’s safety.

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Invisi-Gard is the premium security screen solution

by Alspec — an Australian-owned, market leader for over 45 years in the design of innovative aluminium systems to architectural, residential, industrial and home improvement markets.

Products

316 STAINLESS STEEL SECURITY SCREENS

Enquiries: 1300 468 474 invisi-gard.com.au IN0136

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WEATHERTEX A BETTER CHOICE, NATURALLY...

The Ultimate semi-frameless uses a unique glass clamp and pivot manufactured from high-quality forged brass allowing for minimum top and bottom door clearance. Held by a single hole in the glass. Held by a single hole in the glass, this unique clamp system has been tested to hold up to 950mm wide doors – the largest door size of its type on the market.

Weathertex is a sustainable panel and weatherboard manufacturer offering the best quality products in the market. Available in primed and natural with many styles to choose from and loved by Builders, Architects, Specifiers and DIYers Australia wide.

The attention to detail on our semi-frameless pivot clamp system incorporates a pocket free door opening that reduces sill water build up, wedge glazed and silicone seal for superior sealing and magnetic door closures at the head of the door. There are a variety of perimeter frames to choose from.

Enquiries: 1300 139 706 danmac.com.au/index.html#hometop DA0958

architectureanddesign.com.au

The only product of its kind in the world, Weathertex products are 100% natural and use no silica, glues, resins or formaldehydes. Weathertex has a less than zero carbon footprint and is 100% Australian made and owned.

Enquiries: 1800 040 080 weathertex.com.au WE0926

architectureanddesign.com.au

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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Products

ULTIMATE SEMI-FRAMELESS CLAMP SYSTEM

EVENEER: TIMBER VENEER REIMAGINED

KINGSPAN KOOLTHERM K3 FLOORBOARD

Eveneer is a range of sliced, reconstructed, real wood veneers. Produced from wood species grown in agricultural plantations and responsibly managed forests, Eveneer is available with FSC certification.

Kingspan Kooltherm K3 Floorboard is a high performance, fibre-free rigid thermoset closed cell phenolic insulation core, sandwiched between two layers of tissue based facing autohesively bonded to the insulation core during manufacture.

Even in colour and pattern and free from the splits, knots, holes, and discolouration found in conventional timber veneers, Eveneer is suitable for use on wall panelling, joinery, furniture, doors, floors, etc.

Enquiries: +61 3 8555 2235 eltongroup.com/eveneer/

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Kingspan Kooltherm K3 Floorboard is manufactured without the use of CFCs/HCFCs and has zero Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) and low Global Warming Potential (GWP).

Enquiries: 1300 247 235 kingspan.com/au/en-au KI0438

architectureanddesign.com.au

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BILDSPEC OPERABLE WALLS: OFFICE ACOUSTICS

EASYCRAFT’S EXPRESSIONS SERIES

Bildspec's operable walls are often utilised to allow clients greater flexibility with their office spaces, through the creation of meeting rooms, board rooms, breakout rooms and multipurpose break out spaces. These operable walls offer each application varying acoustic properties, that are not only fit for purpose but also highly attractive and user friendly.

Easycraft’s Expression Series offers a range of decorative finishes which provide the latest in contemporary styling, offering stunning and versatile aesthetics in any project.

BI0028

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Create your desired atmosphere and bold design features with patterns that will suit a variety of spaces.

EA0033

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FIRE RESISTANT WINDOWS AND DOORS

Wavebar® is a high-performance, flexible mass-loaded vinyl noise barrier, offering superior acoustic transmission loss.

The TPS range of fire rated door and window systems are all approved to AS1530.4.

Designed to meet market requirements it has been effectively used to reduce noise in building, commercial, industrial and automotive markets, globally.

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

TP0026

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Trimless lighting is installed within the plaster, so it has no bumps or protrusions, besides photons!

AB7935

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STRUCTURAL LAMINATED CURVED GLASS Bent & Curved Glass engineered glass solution incorporates a structural interlayer allowing for a seamless, virtually invisible balustrade without compromising safety, function or performance.

BA0315

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Trimless linear lighting is the ultimate in modern and luxurious lighting, perfect for sleek lines and smooth edges.

BP7919

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The Abilox coloured concrete paving range is designed to permanently colour concrete, asphalt, mortar, applied finishes, caulks and sealants, surface coatings, adhesives and other composite products and materials are used by both the construction and building industries.

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ABSOLUTE TRIMLESS PROFILES FOR STRIP LIGHTS

P roducts

ABILOX ® COLOURS FOR CONCRETE

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PY0835

It is important to be aware that neither the frame nor glass has a fire rating – it is always the system that has the approved fire rating.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

WAVEBAR ®: FLEXIBLE NOISE BARRIER

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COLORBOND ® STEEL MATT Harnessing new paint technology to deliver a naturally inspired finish that diffuses light for a soft, textured, designer look, COLORBOND® Steel Matt is available in Surfmist® Matt, Shale Grey™ Matt, Dune® Matt, Basalt® Matt and Monument® Matt.

BS0740

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OFFICE CHAIRS: ADELAIDE COLLECTION

BY HENRIK PEDERSEN The iconic Adelaide office chair is all about curves, comfort and character.

With a graceful, organic form and sublime comfort this modern chair will set an elegant tone in your space.

BO0600

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

SOUNDPROOF BOOTHS

From zoom meetings and phone calls to recording and podcasting, a soundproof booth is the perfect modular solution for any workplace.

Screenwood linear timber systems provide an ideal solution to renew a building faรงade or to integrate a natural element in an industrial environment.

Using certified timbers, Screenwood Modular Panels are available in a range of profiles and are pre-finished prior to delivery making installation easy and time efficient.

SC0853

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

SELECT RANGE: BI-FOLD WINDOWS AND DOORS A premium solution for those seeking superior functionality and style in the alfresco area of their home.

The Carinya Select Top and Bottom Bi-Fold System features flat sill options for smooth accessibility and optional mid rails.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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P roducts

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Bureau Booths create premium quality, high tech soundproof booths to give you space to get work done.

SCREENWOOD EXTERNAL ARCHITECTURAL PANELLING

BU0556

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PINOLI: PLYWOOD LINING PANELS The Pinoli range of interior plywood, achieves the authenticity inherent to genuine wood products.

Manufactured in New Zealand by CHH Plywood from sustainably-grown Radiata pine, Pinoli adds the warmth and versatility of wood to any interior residential or commercial project.

CH0924

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EFAFLEX: HIGH-SPEED ROLL DOORS DMF International Pty Ltd have been partnering with German manufacturer, Efaflex for over 12 years, supplying and installing their range of specialised high speed spiral and folding doors for many applications around Australia.

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HYDRONIC HEATING FOR RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL HEATING Comfort Heat has introduced a hydronic floor heating range to its repertoire of products.

Hydronic heating is ideal for large floor areas for both residential and commercial floors. The floor heating is not only energy efficient but also extremely comfortable, running costs are kept down and environmentally friendly energy sources can be used as alternatives.

CH0713

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DN400 TWIN CHAINWINDER Delivering a solution to the growing trend of large awning openings, this revolutionary product is the ultimate in window control and is sure to change the way in which awning windows are specified.

DP0916

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28/10/20 10:56 am

EGGER FLAMMEX EGGER Flammex panels are designed so they do not create droplets while burning and have low smoke emission.

The emission behaviour is the same as with natural wood.

Perfectly match other EGGER joinery or create a contrasting element with Flammex, the perfect Group 1 Fire Rating solution for commercial projects.

FO0712

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ELEMENT: A BREATH-TAKING ADDITION TO ANY SPACE The high efficiency Element range is designed to pair beautiful flames with maximum heating capacity.

If you are looking for a fire to keep the chill away on cold wintry evenings, this fire will be perfect for you.

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

ALL NEW FACADE PANEL WITH A LINEAR GROOVED SURFACE – SWISSPEARL ® LARGO GRAVIAL ® Gravial is the new, large format fiber cement panel with a linear, geometrical grooved surface.

Depending on the position and light, Gravial offers a rich contrast and unique interplay of shadow and light.

It is perfect for making a special statement on both the interior and exterior of a building.

HF0337

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STERIFLOOR: MULTI-PURPOSE FOOD GRADE, NON-SLIP AND ANTI-BACTERIAL FLOORING SYSTEM

The SteriFloor range is an antimicrobial, superior high-performance trowel on resin system.

LG0508

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AF0437

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CORRASSURE

NEW PEARL LIMESTONE

Our leadership identified a gap in the general construction market where corrosion is not properly addressed in mandatory codes and standards.

New Pearl Limestone is a highdensity stone that glows with the deep lustre of pearls.

RemedyAP have taken the durability lessons learned in heavy industry and packaged them into a set of systems and procedures for the general and civil construction industry.

RA0346

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The level of attention and importance placed on factory and workplace floors, whether assessment, service maintenance or install has a significant impact on human and product safety.

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Atmosphere from Locker Group provides a new perspective to sustainable façade systems, ideal for new construction and retrofit applications.

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

P roducts

ATMOSPHERE: SUSTAINABLE FAÇADE SYSTEMS

FU4726

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RF0716

Futurewood supplies a quality range of environmentally friendly, low maintenance, timber alternative building products including solid composite timber decking in the Xtreme and Original ranges.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Promised to make an impressive statement in living spaces of all sizes and shapes.

FUTUREWOOD CLEVERDECK SOLID COMPOSITE TIMBER DECKING

Its honed surface has a slight translucence, creating an amazing visual depth, making it incredibly popular and multi-functional.

RA0238

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SAFTEYLINE JALOUSIE PERFORMANCE LOUVRE WINDOWS Designed and developed exclusively

by Technal, Safetyline Jalousie louvre windows are well-known for overcoming the design, safety and security limitations of conventional louvre windows and have a long history of superior performance in commercial, public and residential buildings across the globe.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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P roducts

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O C T- D E C 2 0 2 0

SJ0319

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

The Calissa range is the first of its kind to feature matching bathroom vanities, bedside tables, chest of draws and is also available in a natural oak finish or dark walnut.

SH0523

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FIRETEX ® FX6002 INTUMESCENT PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION

SICO ® PORTABLE STAGING: SAVING SPACE AND TIME

FIRETEX® FX6002 allows a two-hour fire protection system to be applied in a single coat and be ready to handle or topcoat in as little as one hour.

Used and preferred by hospitality, education, convention and government facilities, the SICO® 1800 Series Portable Stage system offers all the advantages of a mobile folding stage in a convenient dual-height model along with the simplicity of built-in height adjustability.

This unique technology has been formulated to provide protection across a wide range of steel, providing extended durability with an attractive and easy-to-apply finish, helping designers to obtain aesthetically pleasing fire protection.

SP0534

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

TASMANIAN OAK Tasmanian Oak is the preferred hardwood for a wide range of applications; scantlings, panelling, flooring, glulam spans, veneers, plywood, furniture. It works extremely well and produces an excellent finish.

TT0320

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

LOUVRED OPENING AND CLOSING PERGOLAS FOR SHADE AND SHELTER Vergola is the original, energy-efficient, open close roof system that adds versatility and functionality to both residential and commercial properties, creating comfortable spaces to be enjoyed all year round.

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VE0658

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FOLDING GRILLES AND FOLDING CLOSURES Both space efficient and built with a strong, aluminium construction the Folding Grilles and Closures from The Australian Trellis Door Company are appealing, lightweight and easy to use.

TA0724

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

ARCHITECT-FRIENDLY LED SCREENS As many of Australia’s leading architects have now discovered, the Ci Group is where you go when you want an LED project that delivers what is promised.

Ci Group is responsible for Australia’s leading examples of both outdoor and indoor LED, providing screens for the GPT Melbourne Central Tower lobby and the Sony C LED theatrette for Telstra.

CI0602

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DUNLOP COMMERCIAL UNDERLAY FOR HIGHTRAFFIC AREAS With a range of high performing commercial application underlays, Dunlop Commercial Underlays are easy to install and provide outstanding performance and comfort.

DU4938

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HAWKESBURY: COMMERCIAL MULTI-FOLD DOOR

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

MONIER INLINESOLAR™: THE POWER OF A GREAT LOOKING ROOF InlineSOLAR™ is compatible with any Monier roof tile product, and is recess-mounted within your roof line.

You’ll get all the benefits of solar while still maximising the street appeal of your home.

MR0700

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ALUMATE not only creates a building of superior appearance but can also contribute acoustically and thermally with the right design and application.

With modern finishes that are long lasting and with the most realistic timber look, ALUMATE is the perfect non-combustible product.

AL0027

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EZYJAMB DOOR JAMB Manufactured by Studco Building Systems; EZY Jamb is a split type door jamb manufactured from cold rolled BlueScope Steel Zincanneal™ to produce a strong and secure assembly.

GA0831

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ALUMATE CEILING SYSTEM

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Autoflo’s Australian-made range of pillar taps offer unique aesthetic and function allowing for intelligent choices for a range of installation applications.

Depending on the final application a sensor activation or a touch application may be more suitable.

Autoflo provides options that match the particular industry being served.

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

P roducts

ELECTRONIC PILLAR TAPS FOR BATHROOMS

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Allplastics offers Cast Acrylic NoiseGuard panels made of DONCHAMP® Splash which provides civil contractors and planning authorities with an aesthetically attractive as well as a functional noise abatement element.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Designed with large floor to ceiling applications in mind, the Hawkesbury® Multi-Fold Door Range combine full-sized commercial perimeter framing with specially-designed commercial door stiles. A functional alternative to traditional door units in lighter commercial and residential applications the Hawkesbury® E2 and E3 Door Range removes the barriers to allow flow between indoor and outdoor living.

DONCHAMP ® NOISEGUARD ACOUSTIC BARRIERS

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

DECOCOAT: ARCHITECTURAL POWDER COATING DecoCoat™ offers high-quality architectural powder coating services for the ultimate in durable finishing solutions.

The highly durable powders in DecoCoat’s exclusive ‘Colour Series’ can be applied to a wide range of aluminium or steel extrusions as well as DECO’s architectural product range: DecoClad, DecoBatten, DecoSlat and DecoPanel.

DA0045

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INSPIRE ® ARCHITECTURAL PLASTERING BEADS Rondo INSPIRE® Reveal Beads are cold rolled from Zincanneal steel and are able to withstand harsh UV rays without cracking or breaking down.

ASPECTA LVT FLOORS The ASPECTA™ portfolio of LVT plank and tile features high-quality surface textures, superior design and colour, as well as durability, safety and warmth underfoot.

They incorporate a perforated leg for setting into the surrounding wall lining and can be painted over to match the wall finish.

RO0655

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Styroboard EPS is ideal for the building and construction industries, as well as use in commercial and retail environments as it is a highly versatile expanded polystyrene sheet that serves as a solution.

architectureanddesign.com.au/magazine/

LINEAR LIGHTING: FLEXIBLE AND ELEGANT LED SOLUTION A versatile extruded aluminium profile, available in system kits to be assembled for ceiling or suspension installation, to draw infinite shapes in space.

Designed and manufactured by Italy's leading lighting innovators Luciferos.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

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STYROBOARD EPS: AUSTRALIAN MADE EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE BUILDING PRODUCTS

VL0021

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SUNTUITIVE ® SOLAR RESPONSIVE THERMOCHROMIC (SRT) GLASS Suntuitive is Australia’s first truly Solar Responsive Thermochromic (SRT) adaptive glazing film, ideal for commercial and residential external windows.

GA0831

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KILARGO SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR INTUMESCENT FIRE DAMPERS Get the right recommendation for your project on the spot from Kilargo's extensive IFD range based on your specific use and application.

With Kilargo's IFD Selector App, you have instant access to installation instructions to correctly comply with building regulations.

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GL1149

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ALLWEATHER EXTERNAL BI-FOLD DOOR SYSTEM The Allweather External Bi-Fold Door System is a durable and versatile product, designed for the diverse environments of Australia.

CO0945

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TOTALMOVE: CAR PARKING LIFT TotalMove is the top of the LevantaPark range, delivering outstanding performance both as a car parking lift and a goods lift.

Incorporating all the benefits of the rest of our range, it’s capable of carrying great capacities (up to 3 tonnes) to a great height (up to 16 metres).

LE0041

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28/10/20 10:57 am

Want to gain Internal Space without Increasing your Building’s Footprint?

Imagine saving the space of a whole apartment by using high- technology insulation.

In a recent Class 3 apartment building project, we took a 6 apartment floor plan designed with convectional insulation to NCC 2019 and substituted it with Kingspan Kooltherm high-tech insulation.

Each floor plate had 62 linear meters of external wall with a insulation thickness of 322mm, that was reduced by 74mm using Kingspan Kooltherm. The net outcome was savings of 4.6m2 in area per floor, which over the 23 levels equated to an area of two additional apartments.

To learn more about NCC 2019 changes regarding thermal insulation and how you can build better using high technology insulation, contact our technical services team today.

Kingspan Insulation Pty Ltd Tel: 1300 247 235 Email: info@kingspaninsulation.com.au

www.kingspaninsulation.com.au

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Bringing Nature to Space Stylecraft Showroom featuring WoodWallÂŽ Walnut Crown Designer Hassell / Photographer Felix Forest

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21/10/20 5:22 pm