- Sydney’s first Six Star Green Star high-rise building
- First use of double skin façade on this scale in an Australian high-rise
1 Bligh Street is a new signature office tower in Sydney’s CBD, setting new standards for sustainability and innovation in high-rise development in Australia.
The high performance double skin façade, full height naturally ventilated atrium, and efficient hybrid mechanical system, are some of the design features which contribute to the overall highly sustainable building design.
Maximising water views
The elliptical tower is orientated to face north towards the clear views to Sydney Harbour. The double skin facade enables the use of much clearer glass than used in a typical commercial building, while still achieving the high levels of solar control needed in Sydney’s climate.
Commonly used to address cold design conditions in Europe, double skin façades are relatively new in Australia and have not previously been applied locally on this scale.
External blinds are automated to track the suns path providing maximum solar control when needed. At other times the blinds can be retracted, to maximise access to the spectacular views and natural daylight.
Leading edge sustainability initiatives
The building has achieved a Six Star Green Star Office Design V2 Certified Rating, and has been designed to target a Five Star NABERS energy rating.
Sustainability credentials include the high performance double skin façade and a solar cooling system which feeds into the tri-generation system – the first of its kind in a commercial office tower in Australia. The system reduces the strain on the CBD grid infrastructure by a further 25% and provides free cooling for the building.
Other innovations include passive chilled beams on the perimeter to allow for effective tracking of solar loads, and the first use of black water recycling in high-rise office buildings, saving 100,000 litres of drinking water a day.
Full height atrium
The 30-storey atrium with clear glazed skylight is a spectacular space. With balconies and bridges cutting into the void a sense of openness and connectivity is created on every floor, while still protecting speech privacy. The atrium is naturally ventilated via operable glass louvers, removing the need for mechanical cooling in this space.
The elliptical shaped floor plates enable 74% of the building to be within eight metres of either the facade or the atrium, providing large amounts of natural light into the building and views in all directions.
Very high levels of indoor air quality are achieved with the ventilation system providing a 150% improvement over Australian standards.
1 Bligh Street is owned jointly by DEXUS Property Group, DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund and Cbus Property. Arup provided mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, specialist strucural services, fire engineering, acoustics, façade engineering and lighting design.
For further information on 1 Bligh Street, visit www.1bligh.com.au.