Quay Quarter Tower embodies the cutting-edge concept of Sydney's urban development! Text: Technode
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Located on the waterfront in Sydney's CBD, Quay Quarter Tower is a high-rise office building designed by 3A Architects. At 200 metres tall and with 49 floors, the building is one of the tallest buildings in the heart of Sydney.
The building's design uses a unique "stacking" shape that divides the building into several staggered volumes, creating a dynamic and layered appearance. This design not only adds to the visual impact of the building, but also brings better lighting and ventilation to the office space inside.
Quay Quarter Tower has put a lot of effort into sustainability. In addition to adopting advanced passive solar design and efficient energy recovery system, it also incorporates other cutting-edge green technologies. These include the goal of achieving carbon neutrality, equipped with intelligent energy management systems, rainwater harvesting and reuse systems, the use of environmentally friendly building materials, and smart parking systems.
The Quay Quarter Tower transforms one of the world's most recognizable skylines and opens up new possibilities for adaptive reuse of buildings. While maintaining a commitment to sustainability, BG&E has successfully addressed the challenges of collaboration using BIM. The process saved 13 months of work, reused 70 per cent of the original materials, significantly reduced costs, and created an upcycled architectural masterpiece in the heart of Sydney. These innovative practices not only improve the environmental performance of buildings, but also point the way for future urban construction. Quay Quarter Tower has become a model for green building development in Sydney and around the world, fully embodying the cutting-edge concept of Sydney's urban development, and also bringing thinking about sustainable building development in China.
Adhering to the concept of carbon neutrality from the beginning of the renovation, the renovation project of Quay Quarter Tower fully embodies the concept of circular design and carbon neutrality. Compared to simple demolition and reconstruction, the project opted for a more sustainable retrofit, minimizing carbon emissions during the renovation process.
First, the retrofit design approach preserves 65% of the existing floor slabs and structures of the original building, as well as 98% of the original structural walls and cores. This equates to a saving of about 12,000 tons of embodied carbon. This recycling method not only reduces the consumption of building materials, but also avoids the carbon emissions associated with extensive demolition and reconstruction.
An innovative double-decker elevator system was chosen for the renovation plan. The inherent carbon savings achieved by this design are equivalent to nearly 70,000 flights from Sydney to Melbourne. Compared with traditional single-deck elevators, double-decker elevator systems can transport passengers more efficiently and greatly improve energy efficiency.
In addition, AMP Capital's vision is to transform this traditional office building into a thriving cultural district hub, bringing together the nearby Quay Quarter Lanes, historic buildings and the Sydney waterfront. This practice of preserving and utilizing historical and cultural resources also helps to reduce the carbon emissions of new buildings.
A world first: The conversion of a double-deck elevator into a commercial building with full reuse of structure and retention of embodied carbon was a key focus for the Quay Quarter Tower project to achieve AMP Capital's design goals. The project has made an innovative attempt in the design of the elevator system, adopting the world's first double-decker elevator modification scheme.
Specifically, the project team moved away from traditional elevator design and designed a double-decker elevator system. The two elevators are vertically locked together, and passengers on adjacent floors can use the elevators at the same time. This design saves nine elevator shafts compared to traditional systems. In the case of the Quay Quarter Tower, this means saving 120 square meters of space per floor, allowing for improved floor comfort in the building and greater continuous space. This is the world's first example of converting a double-decker elevator to a high-end commercial building.
In addition, the project team integrated construction services into the existing riser wells. Plumbing-based mechanical systems reduce plumbing and equipment sizes. Complex fire engineering solutions and careful coordination of ground and centralized equipment services nearly doubled the building's net leasable area, while the core area increased by only 30%. All of this is achieved while maximizing the need for the building to achieve higher occupational density, more outdoor air, and top-notch service.
Smart façade design reduces energy consumption and efficiencyQuay Quarter Tower's unique façade is designed to shade the building to optimize sun protection. The exterior features high-performance glazing and sunshades to reduce heat and glare, improving occupant thermal comfort and reducing air-conditioning energy consumption. The project team designed the precise angles and shapes of the visor using the annual radiant heat model to maximize daylight and enhance occupant comfort. This foldable and tapered shading solution can follow the path of the sun.
The design is in line with the open concept, flooding the space with natural light, keeping the interior blinds open and offering stunning 360-degree views of Sydney Harbour.
The project team guided AMP Capital in developing a digital strategy for the building and surrounding areas, leveraging a digitally integrated platform to provide tenants with a new level of amenity and comfort. This area features a data collection-centric smart building technology stack that contextualizes information to improve efficiency. One benefit of this approach is that it enables the building's HVAC system to provide fresh, clean air to occupants in an energy-efficient manner.
Accessibility is an important part of the project strategy. To achieve this, the workplace app includes up-to-date information, booking features, and digital passes to provide tenants and visitors with digital navigation for a best-in-class experience.
It is worth mentioning that the renovation of the Quay Quarter Tower also incorporates other innovative technologies to further enhance the sustainability of the building. For example, the project is equipped with an intelligent energy management system that can monitor and optimize various energy consumption indicators in real time to ensure energy efficiency and energy efficiency in building operations. At the same time, it has adopted rainwater harvesting and reuse systems, significantly reducing its reliance on municipal water supply.
In addition, Quay Quarter Tower is also environmentally friendly in the selection of building materials. It uses a large number of green building materials such as low-carbon concrete and recyclable aluminum alloy, which minimizes the environmental impact of building construction. At the same time, it is also equipped with an intelligent parking system, which improves the utilization efficiency of the parking lot and reduces vehicle emissions through parking space reservation and guidance.
Reflections: China has also made some important progress in the field of sustainable construction, and the success of the Quay Quarter Tower has taught us a lot of lessons:
🔸 The green building standard system has been continuously improved. China has been implementing green building evaluation standards since 2006, and in 2014 issued a more comprehensive "Green Building Evaluation Standards", covering all aspects of the building life cycle. This provides important policy and technical support for promoting the development of green buildings.
🔸 The use of renewable energy in buildings is expanding. China has vigorously promoted the application of renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic and ground source heat pumps in buildings to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Demonstration projects, such as the China National Renewable Energy Center building in Beijing, have succeeded in significantly reducing energy consumption in buildings.
🔸 Prefabricated construction technology is developing rapidly. China is promoting prefabricated construction, which reduces resource consumption and environmental impact in the construction process through factory prefabrication and on-site assembly. Some large-scale prefabricated residential projects, such as Shenzhen's Bao Installation Residential Community, have demonstrated the advantages of this technology.
🔸 Urban renewal and the preservation of historic buildings are equally important. China's urban renewal focuses on the preservation of historical and cultural heritage, such as the renovation of hutongs in Beijing and the renovation of Shikumen in Shanghai, which not only preserve the historical features, but also improve the energy performance of buildings.
🔸 Green building materials are widely used. China vigorously promotes the use of low-carbon and environmentally friendly building materials, such as steel structures, wood structures, recycled aggregate concrete, etc., to reduce the environmental impact of building construction.
This article is an original article by TechNode reporters, and may not be reprinted without authorization.
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