Sydney’s 8 Chifley Square development has been awarded a 6 Star Green Star - Office Design v2 certified rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

The project is designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and Lippmann Associates in association with Mirvac Design. The development is jointly owned by Mirvac Group and K-REIT Asia.

The 34 storey commercial office building is located on the corner of Elizabeth, Hunter and Phillip Streets in Sydney’s CBD and the expected completion date is 2013.

According to the architects, the concept achieves three main objectives:

  • an extension of the existing Chifley Square ground plane as a dynamic public open space
  • provision of a series of office “village” environments where varying floor plates and 3 storey voids, offer unique workspaces and flexibility within a commercial tower; and
  • targeting 5-Star NABERS Energy and 6-Star Green Star ratings and co-generation plant resulting in a reduced carbon footprint of 70 per cent for a typical building of this size.

The Australian this week published an article predicting that this new style of ‘vertically connected’ open-plan office, activity-based workplace “will set the tone for a new generation of office buildings in Australia".

The environmentally sustainable design features that have been incorporated into the design of 8 Chifley Square include:

  • Blackwater recycling plant for the treatment and reuse of building and mains sewer, reducing the building’s demand on potable water supply and discharge to sewer;
  • Tri-generation system for onsite generation of base building power, heating and cooling and peak load reduction from the existing electricity grid. The tri-generation system will also be capable of exporting power to other buildings at certain times of the year;
  • Chilled beam mechanical system with high volume of fresh air intake;
  • High efficiency façade, including external shading and performance glazing reducing heat load, direct sunlight and daylight glare;
  • Naturally ventilated ground floor glass lobby enclosure;
  • Use of low volatile organic compound (“VOC”) materials and minimising the use of polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”) products;
  • Basement facilities for cyclists including bike racks, change rooms and lockers;
  • Photovoltaic ready roof structure.
  • Mirvac is also targeting a 5 Star NABERS rating for the development.

Chief executive of the Green Building Council of Australia, Romilly Madew, said: “8 Chifley Square is now one of Australia’s newest green landmarks, and we congratulate the team at Mirvac Group and K-REIT Asia for their green leadership."

Nick Collishaw, Mirvac’s managing director said: “Mirvac has long-standing success in translating sustainability philosophies into tangible outcomes, and this is another example of how, through our integrated approach, we can deliver positive results for our tenants, investors and also for the environment in which we operate.”

Images: Lippmann