6 & 8 Parramatta Square tower

Flat and curved glazing with expressed sun shading

Summary

Location:

6 & 8 Parramatta Square, Parramatta

Sector:

Commercial office

Size:

58 storeys (224m high)

Estimated cost:

$700M

Completion date:

2022

Team

Client:

Walker Corporation

Main contractor:

Built

Architect:

JPW Architects

Facade installation contractor:

Highlight Aluminium

Facade Manufacturer

SRG Global Facades

Facade consultant:

Prism Facades

Facade specs & stats

Systems:

Custom-designed unitised curtain wall system with fully integrated external shading devices, and external horizontal features in double-module widths to minimise joints.

Facade area:

54,260m2

Heaviest panel:

580kg

Total number of individual facade panels:

8,100

Total no. external projecting sun-shading fins

16,500m

Sustainability

6-star Green Star, 5.5-star NABERS

Two distinct facades merge below level 28

Challenges

Physical load testing and full-scale prototypes

The commercial office building combines lots 6 and 8 at Parramatta Square. The lower lot 6 portion is known as the Campus building and tops out at level 28, while lot 8 is known as the Tower and runs the full 58-storey height.

The facade treatment sought to differentiate the Campus and Tower parts of the building.

Ensuring extensive sun shading with fins that project up to 600mm
Sourcing flat and curved low-E glass products that provide visual consistency
Managing COVID-related delays in the off-shore procurement of materials

Once engineering verified the external fin connection design, we used physical load testing to ensure it could endure the expected wind environment on the exposed tower. We then used full-scale prototypes in a wind tunnel to test for any wind-generated noise.

Project status tracking

We implemented an in-house RFID logistics tracking system to monitor the project status in real time, ensuring full process transparency. And we used an online 3D building model to track all stages of manufacture, assembly, transportation, delivery and installation .