Lendlease’s six-storey engineered timber office at Barangaroo has topped out this week, with an internal team celebration held on Wednesday, and after a raft of publicity in print, television and online media that reveals timber’s time has come.
International House Sydney will have 6850 square metres of office space across its six storeys when complete. It has been constructed with cross-laminated timber and glue laminated timber, and represents Lendlease’s first foray into CLT buildings in Sydney, and follows two Melbourne projects – Forté and Library at The Dock, both in Docklands.
Designed by Alec Tzannes and Jonathan Evans of Tzannes Associates, the building has high sustainability ambitions, targeting 6 Star Green Star Office Design and As Built and hoping to exceed a five-star NABERS Energy base building rating.
“The architecture of International House Sydney reflects a new form of beauty,” Professor Tzannes said. “Beyond shape and surface, it is deep design renewing architecture’s role to serve the greater social purpose of lowering carbon emissions.”
The building has also been designed to respond to its local environment.
“Looking from the bridges leading to Barangaroo, through the clean glass skin, the multi-story timber structure forms the character of the architecture, the same character that from inside creates an interior environment reminiscent of the spaces often found in Sydney’s historic timber or cast iron and brick buildings from the era when warehouse buildings were crucial to Australia’s maritime economy,” Professor Tzannes said.
The building is situated directly in front of the newly completed Wynyard Walk, connecting Barangaroo to Wynyard Station, with Barangaroo South managing director Andrew Wilson saying the building would be a symbol of innovation and sustainability for the expected 33,000 people that come through the walk each day.
“We are well on our way to creating Australia’s first large scale carbon neutral community and we are extremely proud to be delivering this exciting building,” Mr Wilson said.
The building is due for completion in 2017.
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