The carpark at the newly redeveloped Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast features a wave-like facade inspired by the world-famous beaches in the neighbourhood. Kaynemaile™ collaborated with Scentre Group Design, to turn the carpark into a stunning, functional and highly visible landmark.
The Pacific Fair Shopping Centre is the fourth largest shopping centre in Australia. Running the length of the shopping centre’s 6500-space car park, the installation is considered to be the largest kinetic mesh facade in the southern hemisphere. Each of the 10 million 28mm polycarbonate rings is strong enough to hold a person’s weight.
Drawing inspiration from the surf and golden sand of the Gold Coast’s world famous beaches, the three-dimensional facade takes on a wave-like form. During the day the sun sparkles off the 10 million individual polycarbonate rings, while at night a second layer of Marine-coloured mesh creates a rippling wave moving with the breeze from the Pacific Ocean.
The facade comprises of 188 multi-layer seamless mesh panels, covering an area of 1,850 square metres in addition to two Kaynemaile-Armour flat panels, totalling 600 square metres. The largest panel measuring 50m wide by 9m tall was installed manually in a single lift.
Kaynemaile mesh addressed a number of challenges for the Scentre Group design team, which managed the design and construction of the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre redevelopment for owner AMP Capital. Kaynemaile mesh offered several benefits at the construction stage. Being lightweight, the mesh could be installed without a crane – in fact, screens over 50m wide or 50m high can be erected by hand in a day, unlike metal mesh, which has to be unrolled in limited widths and lifted by crane or heavy equipment.
Additionally, Kaynemaile mesh is non-combustible, meets the requirements for natural ventilation of carparks, and exceeds sustainability requirements. Carpark users can also see from the inside out, while the 3D mesh gives 80% visual privacy.
Stephen Simpson, Regional Manager Design Projects, Scentre Group Design, says:
“We were also really impressed by the speed with which Kaynemaile expedited the project. The usual timeframe would be eight months to a year, but the timeframe for this facade was six months and Kaynemaile succeeded in delivering within four.
"Using Kaynemaile really invigorated this project for us. It turned a carpark into a compelling architectural statement. Kaynemaile takes car park design to the next level."
