Over the last two decades, sleek skyscrapers encased in glass have been a common sight on our city skylines.

Here in Australia, that style has come at a price: Think air conditioning systems working overtime and office workers lowering blinds as their buildings bake in the sunshine. But our love affair with glass is now giving way to high-performance façades designed for a more sustainable future, points out Architectus Principal Marko Damic, whose analytical approach to design challenges has led to some of our most innovative ‘skins’ on commercial buildings.

Globally, it’s estimated that over 70 percent of emissions from the building and construction sector are generated in the usage phase of a building’s lifecycle. The energy expended in heating and cooling is a big contributor to that emissions profile – a situation exacerbated by façades that haven’t been designed to respond to the demands of our climate.

Fortunately, Australia is taking steps in the right direction after refinements to our regulations, including those governing the performance of our commercial buildings. We’re identifying and incorporating more impactful sustainability measures when designing façades.

These important changes do more than shift us toward more sustainable commercial development overall. They can help us achieve carbon neutral operation in the future – and possibly even a carbon positive, environmentrepairing construction industry.

Out of necessity, these new rules introduce some constraints to the process of designing commercial towers. But limitations can lead to innovations, as designers shake off any preconceived notions and explore new approaches.

The changes have also highlighted the increasingly important relationship between computational design and architectural design as we strive for more tech-advanced, sustainable solutions for façades and beyond. The analysis and modelling of specialists like those in our dedicated Digital team are becoming even more vital and integrated.

So how do these new directions in façade design play out in our built environment?

With building performance under scrutiny, we’re seeing design aesthetics change to support more efficient operation, with buildings projecting more overtly environmental features. Overall, there will be a greater degree of solidity in our façades, given the 40-60 percent suggested minimum coverage to achieve good solar performance. Selfshading buildings and photo voltaic panels will also become increasingly common.

One of our recent projects are great examples of these new and emerging design moves.

1 Eden Park in North Ryde, Sydney was the first building to come online following the 2019 Code changes.

The client’s brief for the 10,000 sqm, 7-level development was clear: deliver a visually and technically unique building to differentiate it within the market while also achieving high environmental standards.

Signaling the future of new commercial buildings, Array made the shift from the archetypal ‘glass box’ so common in its precinct to a more expressed façade projecting an environmentally-friendly approach.

During the design process, our focus was on finding the right formula for an appealing building that didn’t rely heavily on glass but was still connected to the outside. At the same time, we wanted the building’s physical appearance to be derived directly from the context and orientation of the site.

Collaborating with Architectus Digital, we used thermal mapping to develop a self-shading building form that carefully integrates solid elements to optimise façade performance and control solar heat gain. Resulting in an eye-catching, geometric patterned exterior, the parametric design is effectively a high tech design solution using a common, low-tech façade system.

Made up of 60 percent white terracotta cladding and 40 percent glazed panels, the façade is arranged to block harsher sunlight from the north and west and open the building to its east. The clear, full-height glazing on this eastern elevation connects the deep western portions of the building to the central precinct and to views of Lane Cove National Park, while also bringing the morning sun deep into the office spaces.

In addition to sun protection, the façade’s distinctive ‘blades’ and carefully positioned, deep window ‘reveals’ allow for elevated views and natural light from the site’s northern aspect. Self-shading extends to the whole building form, which steps down towards the east to complement the scale of the central precinct. This design move also protects Array’s roof terraces from the western sun for greater use and enjoyment of the outdoor spaces.

Ultimately, our parametric-modelled solution for Array achieves an optimum balance between performance and amenity, delivering an innovative and environmentally responsive façade.

Image: Marko Damic / Supplied

Branko Miletic

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