Water Corporation’s
brief to Woodhead International for the design of the new staff lunch areas in
their HQ at Balcatta WA was simple… create a visually appealing, stimulating
and enjoyable workplace environment. A unique concept was developed for
sculptured water ripple effect ceiling features which would reflect the
client’s core water delivery business.
Converting this concept
into reality posed technical challenges for the builders PS Structures. The
design required assembling custom made wooden blades to achieve the effects but
conventional architectural approaches to fitment detailing was too expensive
and impractical.
PS Structures turned
to Supawood to devise an economical solution for configuring and manufacturing
the wooden blades and to design a simple concealed fixing system design.
Made from Birch
plywood and given a clear finish, there are 207 different shapes and 778 blades
in total. To ensure the exact layouts were configured as planned, every blade
had concealed labelling and was notched to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
All blades were then packed and marked by area for easy identification in the
installation sequence.
The largest blade
ceiling is in the main staff gathering area, a circular room dominated by a
circular feature reminiscent of the ripples a water droplet makes when hitting
a surface. In other areas rectangular shaped blade features suggest waves
washing over the length of the ceilings above the tables. Lighting has been
cleverly integrated illuminating the effects.
To address noise
reverberation, Supawood supplied Supabab acoustic boarding which was used at
the blade and ceiling interface to eliminate the need for perforated
plasterboard.
This project shows a
new, incredibly creative method in which SUPASLAT bespoke linear products can
be applied.
This project has been
certified – 4 Star Green Star – Office Design v3.