Friday, March 31, 2017

Energy Efficient Skyscraper in Downtown Sydney


The 1 Bligh Street office tower in downtown Sydney received a "6 Star/World Leadership"-certification, which is the highest score from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).  The tower was designed by Ingenhoven Architects + Architectus, who won an international contest commissioned by the property owner, Dexus Property Group, in 2006.  


Right from the earliest design elements, the 30-story building was geared toward energy efficiencies and nature inspired features starting with its elliptical shape to the orientation that takes advantage of the serene Sydney Harbor views.  The tower is the first high-rise in the country to have a double skin façade and natural ventilation.  As tall as the building, the atrium is the central focal point and allows natural daylight and ventilation into the office space as well as the balconies that look out to the atrium.  The glass elevators in the atrium offer a great “spatial experience” with each ride.  In addition 1 Bligh Street has an outdoor terrace on the 15th floor and a large rooftop terrace that offer views of the harbor.    

Other energy efficient features include a combined cooling, heating, and electric power generation system as well as a vacuum tube solar collector that produces electricity. Furthermore, the building has a dedicated water filtration plant with the capacity to clean more waste water than the building creates.  This is especially important in Australia as water is a precious commodity.  

Construction materials include using more than 20% recycled aggregate and replacing almost 41 percent of the cement with industrial waste by-products.  Data on the construction also reports that “ninety percent of the structural steel has a recycled content of at least 50 percent, and, all timber used was either recycled or from an FSC-certified source.” 

While not the tallest building in the city, 1 Bligh Street strives to set new standards for “site consciousness and sustainability.”  The building’s ground level is only 40 percent enclosed with the rest open to the public and includes an open-air café, meeting areas, and a children’s play area.   

The Conco Companies are a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western U.S. We got our start in the Bay Area in 1959 by offering clients the best value on a wide range of concrete services and products.  Since that time, we have taken a leading role as one of the top concrete contractors in the region. We have four regional offices serving California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.
Sources:
archdaily.com/169173/1-bligh-office-tower-ingenhoven-architects

skyscrapercenter.com/building/1-bligh-street/10711

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