- 9,400m² of Grade A office accommodation.
- Achieves 60% reduction in CO² emissions and 75% reduction in potable water use*.
- High Commendation at the Engineers Australia Cairns Region Engineering Excellence Awards 2010.
The second stage development of William McCormack Place in Cairns involved approximately 10,000m² of Grade A office accommodation and supporting infrastructure.
The client placed particular emphasis on long-term ownership – lifecycle costing, resource efficiency, and durability. A multidisciplinary team worked together to successfully deliver the works on the constrained and odd-shaped existing site, without disruption to stage one building operation. Arup provided civil, structural and fire engineering to help achieve the client's sustainability-driven brief.
Raising the bar
William McCormack Place Stage 2 has set new standards for commercial property development in Cairns, significantly exceeding design requirements for a sustainable and effective office building with low lifecycle costs.
A collaborative and integrated approach from the earliest stages of schematic design, delivered by an entirely local project team, resulted in a cohesive building design. The siting, envelope, structure, and services work together rather than competing to achieve world-leading sustainability outcomes including a 6 Star Green Star Office Design v2 rating.
Cost savings
The building’s energy-saving initiatives are expected to deliver cost savings of approximately $450,000 per year. Specific sustainability outcomes include a 60% (1,000 tonnes/y) reduction in CO² emissions (compared to a median 2.5 Star building), 40% reduction in whole-building demand on the electricity grid, and a 75% (17ML/y) reduction in potable water use, (compared to a median 2.5 Star building).
Local expertise
In addition to a wealth of local knowledge and experience, the team offered proven expertise in sustainable engineering to produce creative and viable strategies that enabled the client to reach its sustainability outcomes.
The innovative and integrated approach to design for William McCormack Place has helped to set a new benchmark in sustainable building design in the tropics. In completing the design and construction, the local marketplace - including builders, sub-contractors and suppliers - have also discovered the benefits of sustainable design, and in some cases raised their performance to help the project succeed.
*Compared to a median (2.5 Star) building