Clever passive cooling design combined with a number of COLORBOND products, have helped create a popular new recreation and public meeting space for the community of Broome.

The Broome Recreation and Aquatic Centre (BRAC) Sports Pavilion features a combination of extra-wide verandas, a large undercover function area and a central breezeway. 

These areas are topped by an unusually shaped heat-reflective roof that wraps over two sides of the building. 

The roof and longest north-facing wall of the building are clad in COLORBOND Coolmax steel.

COLORBOND Coolmax steel roofing also wraps over part of the south-facing wall, blending into a veranda to create what architect Paul Edwards describes as a "parasol protecting the pavilion from the harsh Broome sun".

Mr Edwards, a director of Site Architecture Studio in Perth, said the Sports Pavilion needed to provide the best possible shelter from the tropical heat in order to fulfill its intended function as a social hub.

"The pavilion needed to keep its users as cool and comfortable as possible, both internally and externally, so the design maximised shaded, passively cooled areas.”

"As a result, a meeting room was added as well as 100 square metres of undercover area, where local sporting clubs could host functions and events out of the direct sun,” said Mr Edwards.

"Specifying COLORBOND Coolmax steel in Whitehaven has provided the architects with the highest possible solar reflectance for the roof. COLORBOND Coolmax steel in the colour Whitehaven has a nine per cent higher solar reflectance value than COLORBOND steel in the colour Surfmist," he added.

According to BlueScope Steel studies, an insulated roof made from COLORBOND Coolmax steel can lower the internal building temperature by up to two degrees Celsius compared to a roof made from ZINCALUME steel.

The steel roof of the Sports Pavilion combines with a number of other passive cooling initiatives to significantly reduce ambient temperatures within the pavilion.

A central breezeway allows several rooms within the facility to take advantage of the cross-flow while remaining secured by gates at either end.

Over the breezeway, a five-metre long 'e-vent' ridge passive ventilator assists natural cooling by drawing cooler air through the building at a lower level. 

Raked internal ceilings minimise heat and humidity stratification, especially in the change rooms.

Four metre-wide verandas wrap around the west, north and eastern elevations to naturally shade the building from excessive solar gain, while also providing spectators with shelter from tropical rains.

All the verandas are insulated and lined to minimise radiant heat over the spectators.

The COLORBOND Coolmax steel roof and insulation combined to achieve an insulation value of R4.7, which is above the R3.2 specified by the Building Code of Australia (BCA). The walls incorporating COLORBOND Coolmax steel achieve a minimum of R3.5, whilst the internal walls achieved R2.3 - both more than required by the BCA. 

"This project is an example of the importance of passive, low-cost sustainable design principles to minimise running costs and maximise occupant comfort," Mr Edwards said.

"We have found that using building materials such as COLORBOND Coolmax steel goes a long way to achieving this."