Boiling point 21

21 state-of-the-art spaces with Zip instant boiling water

Instant Boiling Water

Issue 21 – 2013

NEWS FROM ZIP Zip at TEDx Sydney

A new look for Zip HydroTap now being introduced with new “generation four” models incorporating an unprecedented range of energy-saving features.

See details now at zipindustries.com

On 4 May this year 2,200 high profile individuals gathered at the Sydney Opera House for a full day programme of exchanging “ideas worth spreading”.

The event was TEDx Sydney, organised by long time TEDster, Remo Guiffre, who worked with a network of fellow thinkers and other long-time collaborators.

TED is an American-based not-for-profit enterprise, which started out in 1984 as a conference bringing people together from three industries – Technology, Entertainment, Design.

And as any reader of Boiling Point knows, everyone at Zip is committed to our own “idea worth spreading” – the joys of having boiling, chilled and sparkling water on tap.

The challenge for Zip was to communicate those joys to all 2,200 of the TEDx Sydney participants in the course of a single (and particularly busy) day.

The Zip team installed six drinking water stations in the conference breakout areas, with Zip HydroTap boiling, chilled and sparkling water systems mounted on illuminated polycarbonate cubes, for patrons to use whenever they wished.

In addition, the team distributed a complimentary Zip HydroTap stainless steel personal drinking water bottle to every delegate.

The bottles had bright red caps, and were branded with the TEDx logo, becoming a takehome souvenir.

Zip team members were on hand to introduce water station users to the Zip HydroTap concept, and reported exceptional interest throughout the day.

Michael Crouch AO Executive Chairman Zip Heaters (Aust) Pty Ltd A member of the Zip Industries Group michaelcrouch@zipindustries.com

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02 LIVING GREEN By manipulating the interconnection between space, light and air, 12 new luxury townhouses in Brisbane prove that great design can be environmental too.

08 HUBS FOR LEARNING A library is still the heart of any university.

And the newly renovated Fisher Library at Sydney University, by dwp|suters and Geyer, brings new life to this old and important institution.

Cover Image: Fisher Library, Sydney University Photography: Richard Glover

04 G lobal Thinking, Local Flavour On the banks of the Brisbane river, the new Zurich Financial Services headquarters brings the best of local design to the international stage.

12 floating new ideas As a ship and boat interior design specialist, Jeremy Spear knows that only the best products will stand the test of the rough and volatile ocean weather.

06 INSTANT OFFICE (JUST ADD WATER) Offering an individualised exercise programme, it was clear that the new 12WBT offices needed the best in filtered water to match.

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Living green Designing a dozen luxury townhouses that strike a good balance between openness, community and seclusion is all about the deft manipulation of space, light, air and interconnection.

Words: Guy Allenby Photography: Scott Burrows Architect: Rothe Lowman White

Brisbane’s Green Quarter is housing that attends many environmental factors.

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Lead Architect, Jeff Brown

Given its name, it’s not surprising to learn that Green Quarter boasts a few environmental virtues at the very heart of its design.

A development that comprises 12 luxury townhouses in the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton, the quarter was designed by architects Rothe Lowman White.

The townhouses include rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic panels for power generation, and each is orientated to ensure they take best advantage of sunlight and prevailing breezes. Windows are double-glazed and the building materials have been chosen for their low maintenance and key design ideas, which “push the buildings to a higher level of sophistication and performance,” says the project’s lead architect Jeff Brown.

At the heart of the design’s success is the provision of internal courtyard spaces that “allow the interiors to breathe and be filled with natural light,” says Brown.

Ceilings are high and raked to give enough space for air to move through the homes.

Another key element is that all living spaces in the homes have been oriented to overlook private gardens and parkland to the north-east beyond; meanwhile secondary spaces – such as bedrooms and garages etc – overlook a private lane on the site.

Green Quarter is a development that is all about environmental factors – be they environmentally sustainable design considerations or the way the homes relate to the external and their own internal environments, and to each other.

A laneway, running east-west, is designed to provide a high quality vehicle/pedestrian zone that is shared by the residents and helps create a sense of community.

Taking this further the development features a central, landscaped seating space which

allows residents to interact – meanwhile, it is no accident that refuse collection has been designed to be central to allow for casual contacts between the residents. A bike storage space is provided near the main entrance to the quarter.

The main entries into the homes meanwhile are defined by a very strong sense of arrival via courtyards and landscaped gardens.

Once in the homes “an informal/open plan approach to house layouts creates a sense of the casual,” adds Brown.

The houses are designed to strike a good balance between a sense of connection and openness to the adjoining public domain and interiors that offer a light-filled private sanctuary.

Upper floors of the homes have balcony spaces to connect them with the parklands and some homes also have internal landscaped courtyards as key focal points and to let daylight penetrate deep within the homes. Given that the townhouses are to be found in the subtropical climates of South Queensland, balconies and terraces have been deeply recessed so that the outdoor spaces are useable year round and allow some protection from the harsh sun at the hottest times of day.

Meanwhile in the very heart of the homes – the kitchen – sleek design and functionality has been an uppermost concern. “The specification of the Zip HydroTap has been integral to the success of the kitchens at the Green Quarter,” explains Jeff. “Streamlined in appearance, the tap perfectly complements the kitchen tapware, sink and overall aesthetic of the space. The ease of use and reliability of the system was a highly desired and acknowledged addition to the project.”

“ Streamlined in appearance, the Zip HydroTap perfectly complements the kitchen”

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At Zurich’s new Brisbane headquarters a key driver was multifunctional spaces.

There are many challenges in creating a new regional headquarter for a large international enterprise. There’s the need to satisfy the global guidelines as well as the overarching corporate real estate strategy, all the while making sure the facility is ‘grounded’ in its local environment. There are also the challenges faced in the transformation to an activitybased workplace, and, on top of that, there’s the need to design a workplace that best uses the available real estate.

When ODCM were commissioned to design Zurich Financial Services’ new Brisbane headquarters, Zurich had just refined its approach to the fast-paced, dynamic world of finance with its new ‘Global Dynamic Working Guidelines’.

So the parameters for making sure the Zurich brand was immediately recognisable were clear.

In space terms, a key driver was the need for public areas that were multi functional and, as Kiri Johnson, Director Design + Strategy at OCDM points out, these improvements in space utilisation “are particularly evident in the public meeting areas”. Here large glass movable walls have created a fully adaptable space that can open up the entire area from the lifts to the edge of the building. “This has allowed Zurich to reduce space, materials and energy consumption,” says Johnson.

The site meanwhile was alongside the Brisbane river, so it was clear that giving it a local feel had a lot to do with taking advantage of its prime spot. Brisbane’s benign climate and natural beauty allowed the opportunity to create a workplace that was bathed in light and openness. The plan was to create a welcoming place, which reflected the overarching culture of the company with a strong focus on

Global thinking, local flavour Zurich Financial Services’ new Brisbane headquarters had to satisfy many demands, not the least to make the most of its site within international guidelines.

Zurich Financial Services, Brisbane Words: Guy Allenby Photography: Josh Hill Photography Architect: ODCM

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stimulating effective teamwork and encouraging the growth of Zurich’s working culture.

The design process saw a “high level of collaboration with the end user and the design team,” says Johnson, which resulted in a cohesive and refined fitout – with strong detailing characterising the space – and allowing a diverse range of work types and breakout areas. One of the strong details meanwhile – which has served to lend the requisite unique ‘Brisbane’ flavour of the design – is a graphic of the river that “meanders over the walls in the space”, Johnson describes. “Creative finishes and abstract shapes link the spaces so they read as individual spaces or together as one whole space.” The multipurpose ‘client-facing’ areas have also proven equally effective. The brief required that they be ‘groundbreaking’. The response from ODCM’s main Zurich contact was that the design “pushed the design and space utilisation beyond anything he had seen before,” shares Johnson.

The total design solution is a highly flexible one, having the staff breakout area and the

client waiting area as integral pieces of what Kiri calls a “space puzzle to connect the meeting and public zones to create a variety of different spaces”.

The staff breakout space and the client waiting area have been supplied with Zip HydroTap units. “We needed units that could reliably deliver boiled and chilled water instantly, whether it was being used by 70 staff, or for a function for 150 people,” explains Johnson.

“Kitchens and common areas have become hubs for information transfer, collaboration and relaxing.”

Indeed flexibility for these spaces is key – they needed to adapt to any number of demands with elements and appliances that could effortlessly and instantly meet the changing requirements.

Common areas are “no longer single-use spaces; they must work hard to justify the real estate they command in a commercial context.”

“ We needed units that could reliably deliver boiling and chilled water instantly”

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Instant office (just add water) It’s easy to assume that a go-ahead company’s evolution is now marked by ever more employees working remotely from the office, when in fact the opposite is also true.

It says a lot about the ever-morphing nature of the modern workplace that this was a company that had a thriving workforce before it had a place it could call home.

The brainchild of television fitness celebrity, Michelle Bridges, 12WBT (which stands for 12 Week Body Transformation) is one case study that confirms that sectors of the workforce are evolving in unexpected ways. That is to say, it’s easy to assume that the natural order is now for companies to gradually devolve to a point where employees can increasingly work remotely, when in fact a company can manifest in exactly the opposite way.

As architect Ian Moore explains, before his firm designed 12WBT an office in Sydney’s Surry Hills “the company had 20 employees all working from home and this space has quite literally brought them all together for the first time.”

12WBT offers an individualised, online programme of exercises and diet and was initially run out of gyms with a small staff working from home. It was so successful that it needed an instant office and a corporate identity to match this young and vibrant new company.

The brief called for office space for 16 permanent staff, four hot desks, four directors offices, a reception room, a meeting room, shower and bathroom facilities and a studio space incorporating a full kitchen for online cooking demonstrations. The studio/ kitchen also had the dual purpose of serving as a breakout space for the office.

Needless to say the studio/kitchen is the hub of the office and central to its design – and a Zip HydroTap is a crucial element in handling the ever-present demand for boiling, chilled and filtered water in the space. “It’s a major social space for the staff and allows for casual meetings to take place around a large communal table that is also used for cooking demonstrations,” says Moore.

The need for connectivity yet privacy between the common areas and office space has been provided by a fritted glass. The studio can be screened off by a curtain during filming. The rest of the time “the space has been designed to make best use of the natural light and cross ventilation provided by the existing windows along the east and west facades of the building,” says Moore. “There are no internal walls to the space, minimising the need for artificial lighting

and air conditioning.” All windows can be opened and there are no doors to the offices to impede ventilation. All light fittings are LED. Built in what was a “rudimentary building with a concrete slab,” the ceilings are concrete too, so carpets have been added to ensure it isn’t a loud and echo-filled space – which would be unsuitable for filming. The yellow and avocado green carpet also lends the space its colour and the basis of palette, which is continued with Eames ‘Shell’ chairs upholstered in either grey or avocado green and two three-metre avocado green sofas. Meanwhile some Benjamin Hubert pendant lights “give the feel of a smaller, more intimate office rather than just a huge open plan commercial office space”. And, says Moore, they concentrate pools of light where needed.

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“ T he Zip HydroTap is a crucial element”

12WBT, Sydney Words: Guy Allenby Photography: Daniel Mayne Architect: Ian Moore Architects

At 12WBT, the studio is a place for meetings (above) and cooking demonstrations (right).

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Hubs for learning The very heart of a university used to be its library.

It still is, only what constitutes this essential learning and research space is now both an actual and a virtual idea.

University of Sydney Words: Guy Allenby Photography: Richard Glover, Tyrone Branigan Architect: dwp|suters, Geyer

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When the ‘new’ Fisher Library opened at the University of Sydney in 1963, libraries were places filled with books, with the student population in the region of 14,000. Now there are some 50,000 students on campus, we’re deep into the digital age and research is usually performed remotely on a screen rather than by foraging through card catalogues and endless rows of dusty shelves.

That’s not to say that Fisher Library doesn’t still have shelves of books – which it does of course – but it’s now more a place where students can work on screens individually or study in groups. It’s now ‘a learning hub’ – and it’s one of a number across a growing network on campus. The change marks a clear shift in strategy for the institution, a growing recognition that education is a learner-centred process that is best facilitated by providing both formal and informal environments.

The refurbishment of Fisher Library is also a reflection of the fact it was chronically overcrowded. “There were queues for students wanting to get on a computer,” says Shane Wood, a senior associate at dwp|suters who,

SHANE WOOD

together with Geyer Design, were charged with the task of designing a series of new learning hubs, with Fisher Library being the largest.

“This project was about establishing a series of learning hubs that were essentially studentowned spaces that they could go to any time of the day,” says Wood. “They are essentially a 24-hour precinct that could be used to study, research on an individual basis or in small or larger groups.” dwp|suters and Geyer have designed a number of these hubs along with the renewal of some key buildings in the heart of the university. The project begins with the Peter Nicol Russel (PNR) Building behind the Wentworth Building (the main student hub of the University), then continues along Eastern Avenue with the Carslaw Building and the Wallace Theatre, culminating with Fisher Library.

The learning hubs in the refurbished buildings are now places that students can perform “different forms of informal learning,” Wood explains. “Students can do computerbased research with “smaller creative spaces

A Senior Associate with dwp|suters, Shane says libraries are central hubs for informal learning.

Our universities have changed enormously in the information age - no more evident than in the building that’s been the beating heart of one of Australia’s most hallowed education institutions, the University of Sydney. Fisher Library has entered the 21st century.

“Libraries over the last decade have taken on a new persona,” says Shane Wood. As Shane explains, like all traditional libraries, Fisher

was all about “having a secure front end entry point to check books in and out.” There’s still a need for a “core collection of books,” he says, “but the 21st century is more about online and search”. Now screens and desk space as well as small group and larger group collaborative areas are key. “It was important to increase the number of seats in the library for students to undertake different forms of informal learning.”

“ Filtered water is an important element”

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for small groups to gather and collaborative spaces for larger groups to learn together,” he adds.

Each of the spaces is serviced by a kitchenette, fitted out with a Zip HydroTap to provide instant boiling, chilled/filtered water.

The hubs are open 24 hours and the ability for students to sustain themselves with a quick hot drink or filtered water is an important element in an environment supportive to students learning.

“We wanted to create a space where students feel they can stay for extended periods of time, and obviously within that was to provide enough student amenities to keep them there,” says Wood.

At Fisher Library, meanwhile, dwp|suters and Geyer were also careful to provide spaces that could work both as teaching environments as well as more informal areas for group and private study. Accordingly, on level 2 of the library, are flexible learning spaces that can be opened or closed depending on their use.

Suters and dwp (short for Design Worldwide Partnership) recently united to offer integrated architecture, masterplanning and interior design solutions from over 450 design and architecture professionals worldwide. Practising under the new name of dwp|suters work is to be integrated across Australia, Asia and the Middle East. “The benefits of extending our network internationally will be of enormous value to our clients, our people and our business,” explains Suters CEO Leonie Lorimer.

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The two entities haven’t merged in traditional terms, instead the relationships between dwp and Suters and their existing clients remain as it currently stands. Suters will contract as Suters Architects Pty Ltd but trade as dwp|suters. “All our current business relationships are unaffected by the change in our trading name,” explains Lorimer. “Every local team will continue to deliver to time and cost imperatives and respond to project demands, through construction to completion.

Even in the most challenging of locations, our multicultural professionals will be working together to deliver projects via teams of highly focused specialists, offering diversity, flexibility and creativity over a broad spectrum of project types,” she says.

As Brenton Mauriello, CEO for dwp explains, what the new dwp|suters fundamentally delivers is “a one-stop integrated design service to our extensively varied client portfolio. As Suters Architects share our vision of providing excellence and the highest international standards,” he says, “we are both incredibly excited and proud to be collaborating with such a highly reputable and award winning company.”

The learning hubs were designed just prior to the coming together of the two but, as Brenton says, “we very much look forward to delivering our first completed projects together.”

These pages: The University of Sydney’s Fisher Library has been updated to be both a traditional library and the heart of a new network of learning hubs already completed and planned-for across the university.

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“ Each space is fitted with a Zip HydroTap”

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Floating new ideas

Words: Guy Allenby Photography: Rodriquez Cantieri Navali Designer: Spear Green Design

Being a ship and boat interior design specialist takes a particular blend of residential, commercial and product experience, and an understanding of the sea.

Designing boats, and the interiors of boats, is necessarily a precise business. There’s limited space, the environment is one that is constantly on the move and they can even pitch about violently in rough weather. There’s no room for error, and health and safety concerns are ever present. Meanwhile storage is at an absolute premium – everything has a place and everything in its place, as they say.

Designing a sea-going dwelling is, in short, a discipline best left to the experts.

Jeremy Spear of Spear Green Design (SGD) is one such specialist. Initially trained as an industrial designer, Spear has worked for many renowned interior companies, completing work for the British Royal family (including a bathroom for Prince Charles and Princess Diana at Kensington Palace) as well as other bespoke projects in the UK and Europe. He then worked on very fast trains and undertook a number of ship and boat refits, returned home to Australia and studied naval architecture to “consolidate and complement existing experience, and gain credibility in the industry.”

Spear knows industrial design and interior design – and he knows boats. As a marine designer, Spear and SGD have worked on everything from luxury yachts and passenger ferries (including the three Spirit of Tasmania ships), to 500+ passenger tourism and Coastguard vessels that ply the waters off Southern Asia.

It’s challenging work because, as Spear explains, the job entails a mix of residential, commercial and product design. You have to “blend materials and finishes in a limited environment,” he says. “It’s like working with one hand behind your back: all the materials and finishes must be specifically marine-code compliant.”

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Zip’s range of products, including this wall fountain unit, are well at home at sea. The stainless steel Zip Wall Fountain recessed into the rear wall of the saloon is fitted with a drinking bubbler and swivel action carafe filler, and provides up to 140 glasses of filtered chilled drinking water per hour.

“ We know that any Zip system we specify will deliver water on demand”

The concerns of power supply, lighting, weight, height and code compliance all play their part, as does the fact that most vessels are built from alloy or steel. “We have to cover not just the design of a space or the styling of an exterior,” says Spear, “but we need to ensure aspects such as acoustic, thermal, lighting and audio visual are all covered and are all part of a cohesive solution.”

As well, boats and ships often work in remote areas so “everything needs to work first time, and all the time,” he says, adding that some vessels “work 24 hours a day and just don’t shut down.”

Everything specified has to be fit for the purpose and is specified based on many criteria – including reliability and reputation, service and spares, warranty and worldwide assistance and backup. Everything in a maritime environment has to last an exceptionally long time in “often inhospitable conditions – always moving, experiencing high and dynamic wear, and in a salty environment,” says Spear.

Needless to say, of all the myriad requirements, something that is at the very top of the list is a constant and reliable source of drinking water for everyone aboard.

Spear accordingly specifies Zip products and has done so for many different vessels.

Zip products specified include Zip HydroTap boiling and chilled filtered water systems,

Zip wall-recessed water chillers, Zip touchfree hand-washing taps, and Zip hand dryers.

“We know that any Zip system we specify will deliver water on demand — always filtered — sometimes boiling and sometimes chilled but always filtered,” Spears says. Installing Zip products means the “practical aspects are taken care of and the owners and operators can have peace of mind.” It also means bottled water doesn’t have to be stored on board and water delivered from storage tanks is always filtered.

In practical space-saving terms too, Zip products offer a significant benefit, says Spear.

“From a design point of view we find the units to be compact, quiet, easily accessed for service and filter changes,” he says. “The major elements are usually installed under bench – out of sight, freeing up more valuable ‘real estate’ on a vessel, where space is always tight.

“For the ‘on display’, front-of-house aspect they are elegant, clean, uncluttered and simple for people of all nationalities and cultures to use,” adds Spear. “They are simple for crew to maintain and clean, so they do.

They work for us ergonomically and add an element of modern style.”

JEREMY SPEAR

“We have specified Zip products for different aspects for different vessels,” says Jeremy of Spear Green Design.

This has included everything from Zip HydroTaps, hand dryers, wall fountains, and Touch-Free sensor-activated taps.

“We specify where the demand is for instant but sporadic supply,” he says.

This can mean hot beverages all night for coast guard work or to provide cold and hot fresh and filtered water on a large tourist ship. “We know that the units will handle demand in peak periods,” he says, “on a 500 passenger tourism boat.”

Zip Hydroboil

Zip HydroTap

Australia Zip Heaters (Aust) Pty Ltd 1800 42 43 44 www.zipindustries.com

New Zealand Zenith Heaters 0800 558 055 www.zenithheaters.co.nz

United Kingdom Zip Heaters (UK) Ltd 0845 602 4533 www.zipindustries.co.uk

Singapore Multico Building Products +65 6283 8888 www.multico.com.sg

Also in: Europe (Germany), South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, PNG, Taiwan, Thailand.

Published by Indesign Group (61 2) 9368 0150, info@indesign.com.au © Zip Industries Publisher: Raj Nandan Operations: Adele Troeger Editorial: Guy Allenby, Nicky Lobo, Philippa Daly Production: Sophie Mead Design: Rollo Hardy Zip Industries: Murray Pope, Tom Fisher Zip Industries and the publisher hereby disclaim, to the full extent permitted by law, all liability, damages, costs and expenses whatsoever arising from or in connection with copy information or other material appearing in this publication, any negligence of the publisher, or any person’s actions in reliance thereon. Inclusion of any copy information or other material must not be taken as an endorsement by Zip Industries. Views expressed by contributors are personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by Zip Industries. The terms ‘Zip’, ‘Hydroboil’, ‘HydroTap’, ‘Power-Pulse’, ‘Chilltap’ and ‘Chill Fountain’ are trade marks.

www.zipindustries.com 1800 42 43 44