ingenhoven associates

Heart of Glass

The 1 Bligh tower in Sydney’s financial district, highly visible when viewed from the Harbour Bridge, is a prominent addition to the city’s skyline. Australia’s first truly “green” skyscraper is a 28-storey tower with a height of 139 m. The tower combines the highest grades of sustainability, spatial efficiency, carefully designed integration into the immediate urban environment and a spectacular view of the harbour. Employees in almost all offices can enjoy the panoramic views due to the elliptical shape of the building.

The compact elliptical shape is a result of the goal to maximise views and to simultaneously minimise solar heat gains. In terms of urban planning the building footprint reacts to the special situation around Bent Street where two city grids meet at an angle. The gentle curves of the ground floor naturally connect Bligh Street with the 4 m lower O’Connell Street. The fully public ground floor with the public steps visually extends Farrer Place and has become an intensively used seating area. Due to the carefully considered elevation of the office floors, the public steps are well shaded in summer and nicely warmed in winter. A lobby café, an external coffee point, a childcare centre, bicycle parking spaces and end of trip facilities (lockers and showers) within the “podium” serve tenants and visitors.

The openness of the ground floor is continued in the building’s full-height atrium. The atrium allows for views into the office spaces from the glass lifts – as such creating a sense of community between the tenants. The naturally ventilated atrium is beside the fully glazed double skin façade and is one of the main sustainability features. It serves as a cool air pond and also houses balcony workspaces. The double layered façades allow for operable external sun blinds that reduce energy demands significantly while maintaining the view to the Harbour.

A “Tri-Generation” system based on natural gas produces cooling, heating and electric power and is twice as efficient as the conventional power grid. In addition, solar thermal collectors on the roof inject high temperature energy into the solar cooling system. A black water recycling system cleans the waste water within the building. To use the full capacity of the plant, additional sewage is “mined” from a city sewer – eventually saving 100,000 litres of fresh water a day.

As a result, the building gained the “6 Star/World Leadership” certification in the Australian Green Star system. It is the first office tower in Sydney to do so. It also gained a “5 Star” rating in the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS).

Built
International competition 2006, 1st prize
Execution: 2009 - 2011
Architects: ingenhoven architects + architectus
GFA: 45,000 m²
28 Storeys

Green Building
Council of Australia, GBCA
Green Star, six star

Client
Dexus Property Group, Sydney

Architect
ingenhoven architects, Düsseldorf + Architectus, Sydney
Team: Christoph Ingenhoven, Martin Reuter, Christian Kawe, Hinrich Schumacher, Martin Slawik, Thomas Weber, André Barton, Mario Böttger, Elisabeth Broermann, Darko Cvetuljski, Ralf Dorsch-Rüter, Hye Jin Jung, Christian Kob, Andrea König, Alice Koschitzki, Peter Pistorius, Dr. Mario Reale, Evelyn Scharrenbroich, Ulrike Schmälter, Alexander Schmitz, Jürgen Schreyer, Brett Stover, Erich Tomasella, Lutz Büsing, Felix Winter

Structural Engineering
Enstruct Group, Milsons Point, NSW, Australia

Façade Consultant
DS-Plan AG [double skin façade and atrium façade], Stuttgart
Arup Façade with Enstruct [winter garden façade, main building façade, horizontale atrium façade

Ecologically Sustainability Design
Cundall – St Leonards, NSW

Fire Protection – Dry Fire
Arup Fire Engineering, Sydney, NSW

Fire Protection – Wet Fire
Steve Paul & Partners, Sydney, NSW

Acoustic
Arup Acoustic, Sydney, NSW

Electrical Services
Arup Electrical, Sydney, NSW

Lighting Artificial
Arup Electrical [standard lighting], Sydney, NSW
Tropp Lighting Design [special lighting], Weilheim

Landscape Architecture
Sue Barnsley Design, Sydney, NSW

Traffic Engineering
Masson Wilson Twiney, Chatswood, NSW

Transportation Systems
Norman Disney and Young, North Sydney, NSW

Mechanical Services
Arup Mechanical, Sydney, NSW

Hydraulics
Steve Paul & Partners, Sydney, NSW

Project Management
APP Corporation, North Sydney, NSW

Photography
H.G. Esch

Awards
International High Rise Awards 2012
Australian Institute of Architects The Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture 2012
Australian Institute of Architects National Award for Sustainable Architecture 2012
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia 2012
Professional Excellence Award, Australian Institute of Building (Commercial Construction $100M plus) 2012
Australian Institute of Architects (NSW) Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award – Commercial Architecture 2012
Australian Institute of Architects (NSW) Milo Dunphy Award – Sustainable Architecture 2012
Australian Institute of Architects (NSW) Urban Design – Architecture Award 2012
Fassa Bortolo Sustainable Architecture International Prize – Silver Medal 2012
UDIA NSW Awards for Excellence Retail/Commercial Development 2011
API NSW Excellence in Property Awards: Landmark White Property Development Award 2011
Asia Pacific International Property Awards Highly Commended – Office Architecture + Office Development 2011
MBA Excellence in Construction: Site safety >$50M 2011
International Property Awards, Office Architecture: World class office architecture 2008
Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award 2008