Porthole façade on Barak building created with ShapeShell Single Skin

The Barak building in Melbourne, Victoria is well-known for its unique façade, which features the face of Aboriginal leader William Barak.

Designed by architecture firm ARM (Ashton Raggatt McDougall) and built by Probuild, the building also features a striking porthole facade consisting of a grid of circular portholes.

The porthole façade demanded the use of different materials to deliver both a unique façade and a structural balustrade. ShapeShell single skin provided not only the feature porthole elements but also the structural framework within which large glazing and metal features were mounted.

The inert materiality of ShapeShell, part of a range of advanced composites, allowed the incorporation of a number of different materials without risk of corrosion, chemical reaction or conductivity.