With a shimmering glass facade stretching 17 stories towards the clouds, Sydney Water’s new head office at Parramatta is a notable landmark in the city skyline. However, it’s the less visible design features of the building that are perhaps most worthy of praise and emulation.
Built to replace the water utility’s home in the Sydney CBD, the head office is a five green star example to customers of how to reduce water and energy consumption, incorporating environmentally sustainable innovations in its design, construction and fit-out.
A wastewater recycling system was installed in the basement of the building to allow water to be re-used for toilet flushing and irrigation, solar panels were fitted to the roof and a chilled beam cooling system constructed instead of conventional air conditioning to reduce energy use by up to 30 per cent.
Where possible, construction materials made from renewable sources or recycled content were also utilised. This made Alucobond aluminium composite material from Alucobond Architectural a natural choice for the project.
An ozone friendly product with a core material and aluminium cover sheets that can be completely recycled with ease and used in the production of new material, Alucobond fitted perfectly with the project’s sustainable building goals.
Alucobond Architectural supplied Alucobond Brilliant Metallic for cladding 5500 m2 to the lift core, 1500 m2 to the columns and 1500 m2 to the soffit to ceiling of levels 1 and 4 of the building.
“The Sydney Water project is a shining example of how Alucobond has become a material of choice for Australian architects, fabricators and installers as demand for more environmentally sustainable building materials grows,” said Bruce Rayment, CEO, Alucobond Architectural.
Sydney Water’s new head office – complete with its sleek and durable Alucobond cladding – opened for business in May 2009 after two years of construction. The building, which is now home to about 1,400 staff, will assist Sydney Water in meeting its carbon neutral target by 2020.
