Light + shade
Analysis of the building envelope shows where the façade performs well for commercial tenants due to built context shading – and where upgrades are required due to high solar heat load. Our conversion makes the most of problematic areas, giving residents the access they need to sunshine (two hours minimum under NSW apartment design guidelines). At the same time, it allows us to confine offices to the most efficient sides of the façade, reducing the load on mechanical services.
Modular moves
B-grade buildings often lack the floor-to-floor heights needed for modern mechanical services, but they do offer ample space for residential uses. Their spacious column grids and extended slab distances also present an opportunity to insert pre-fabricated residential modules. This both streamlines construction processes and delivers substantial environmental benefits.
Overlapping worlds
Our tower conversion has synergies with the way we live and work now. This is particularly clear in workplaces revolving around collaboration, amenity and health and the shift toward more focused WFH time.
Third spaces
With access to flexible workspace in their own building, residents may choose to exit their bedroom or home office to enjoy a more collegiate environment, along with meeting rooms or other third spaces. To meet the expectations of both residents and workers, the building’s shared amenities should be focused on wellness and grounded in biophilia.
Lifting their game
B-grade buildings often have lifts designed for lower-density floor plates with cellular offices – and not the open plan model so common today. To make matters worse, the lifts are typically not optimised, resulting in long wait times for workers. Reducing the amount of office space in the tower largely resolves these issues. Plus introducing technology like Schindler MetaCore allows one set of lifts to serve multiple applications, with no need to change the building’s core.
A new lease on life
When you put it all together, our design interventions would play out like this – giving the building a new lease on life while addressing some of society’s most pressing issues.
