Kennovations Product Design and Engineering has supplied their architectural heliostat system to illuminate the iconic One Central Park in Sydney.
Known for its distinctively exceptional design to meet today’s green living, One Central Park has been illuminated by Kennovations’ architectural heliostat system, reflecting light from the sun into its residential, commercial and retail precincts.
Located on Broadway in Sydney’s Chippendale, One Central Park opened the doors to its multi-level retail hub, Central recently. One of the focal points of One Central Park is the 320 reflective mirror panels hinged beneath the cantilever, which extends from level 29 of the East tower and weighs over 100 tonne. Additionally, 40 motorised heliostats stand on the rooftop of the West tower managed by sun-tracking technology that uses precision and timing to reflect light to the reflector mirror panels on the cantilever.
Natural sunlight is beamed down into the heart of the retail centre, creating a naturally lit shopping experience for its residents and visitors. Light will also be reflected towards other areas of the Central Park precinct such as the parklands and outdoor pool. Each mirrored panel on the cantilever is fitted with coloured LEDs that allow for a colourful and theatrical expression of visual art.
Kennovations’ architectural heliostat system is a significant leap towards sustainable living not only in Sydney, but potentially across many global regions where lighting is scarce and shading issues abound. The integrated technology not only meets today’s needs for natural lighting, but also presents a vividly artistic structure that is prominent both day and night.
French lighting artist Yann Kersale was commissioned to create a permanent lighting artwork in the 320 individual mirrors on the cantilever. His video artwork, ‘Sea Mirror’, reflects the patterns and colours of Sydney Harbour.
Kersale’s lighting installation is one of the largest-scale permanent artworks that form part of Central Park’s $8 million public art collection, with the sophisticated feature being Australia’s first heliostat to be incorporated into the architectural design of a high-rise residential tower.
Kennovations was commissioned by Frasers Property Australia on behalf of its joint venture with Sekisui House Australia in 2010 to assess the technical feasibility and complete conceptual design of architectural heliostats as part of One Central Park. Since the inception of the project, Kennovations has invested extensively in the custom design, prototyping, manufacturing and assembly of the heliostats.
Tim Phillips, Kennovations’ general manager, explains that the One Central Park project was the first of its kind in terms of primarily being a public artwork display. The challenging scope of work and unique deliverables gave them a keen desire to explore new architectural opportunities.
Device Logic has been a key stakeholder in the development of the system, supplying the software that manages the sun-tracking heliostats. Each heliostat is motorised and programmed to track the sun and reflect sunlight towards the predetermined targets.
One Central Park features vertical gardens made up of 250 species of Australian flowers and plants that form a lush living artwork stretching from the ground level to the rooftop of the two glass towers.
The vines, blooms and foliage combined with the innovative architectural heliostat system has truly raised the benchmark in terms of green living, setting an even higher standard in modern design, architecture and landscaping.
