Located in the heart of Melbourne’s biggest sports and events precinct, the Lexus Centre was originally designed as a competition swimming venue.

The Lexus Centre was originally designed as a competition swimming venue. According to owner/operator, Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust (MOPT), the building’s latest refit was undertaken specifically to address heat load issues within the facility’s auditorium.

Several factors were taken into consideration when considering how to reduce heat in the space. This included the initial cost, estimated maintenance costs and the expected heat. With the building heritage listed (the centre is the last major structure remaining from the 1956 Olympic Games), external louvres were not likely to be approved under the Heritage Act 1995, which aims to retain the building’s exterior in its original appearance.

Due to the age of the glass, thermal cracking was a potential problem from tinting. The next option was double glazed windows. “The possibility of using double glazing to reduce heat in the auditorium was first suggested by MOPT building services manager, Roschel Vaz,” says Graeme Riley, MOPT’s project co-ordinator.

It was estimated double glazing would cut down radiant heat by 56 per cent, which equated to a 40 per cent reduction in heat load.

Viewtech Glass was awarded the contract, with the final double glazing comprising 6 mm VFloat Grey (toughened) and 6 mm EnergyTech Low E (toughened) with a 12 mm air spacer from Viridian. “We supplied four different glazing options in single and double glazing, along with the performance data for each,” says Simon Strange from Viewtech Glass. With the building also heritage listed, Vitewtech supplied a mock up sample of a frame with the glass installed for the heritage people to assess. Toughened glass was also used in both sides of the unit to eliminate any thermal breakage risk.

ViewTech used glass grab trucks and boom lift machinery to transport the glass units. “Due to the height factor, deglazing of the existing glass and installation of the new double glazed units was carried out using a 10m scissor lift which was craned onto the site,” says Stephen Argoon, director at Viewtech.

Viewtech craned the equipment up onto the landing as well as all the glass and worked their way across the façade, removing the existing rows of glass and replacing it as they went. “The existing glass was 6.38 clear laminated, which meant the existing frame would not be able to fit double glazing. We were able to supply and install a new glazing bead to the existing frame to enable us to fit the glass in,” Strange says.

The Viridian thermoplastic spacer (TPS) insulated glass units (IGUs) were installed on-site with structural double-sided tape and a structural silicone wet seal onto an existing aluminium mullion and butt joined to the exposed transom. The TPS IGUs were also supplied with a structural silicone secondary seal to meet with the site framing requirements of an exposed edge to the transom.

The only issue Viewtech had with using the product was the extra weight due to it being a double glazed unit. “All we had to do was put extra manpower on the job,” Strange says.

The project was completed in February 2009, with a total of 260 IGUs installed over an area of around 300 sqm.

Email stephanie.mcdonald@reedbusiness.com.au to comment on this article.

Stephanie McDonald

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