The new building for the Faculty of Law by fjmt is a striking figure on the University of Sydney campus in Camperdown, Sydney. Stephanie McDonald reports.
Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt) had previously undertaken work with the university, including preparing the Campus 2010 masterplan for the revitalisation of the university’s campus. Building on its previous experience with the Campus 2010 project, the firm’s design sought to create a sense of place which was both modern and provided the Faculty of Law with a lively and engaging legal precinct.
Sustainability was a strong focus in the project and is tightly woven into sev eral aspects, from the siting of the build ing and urban initiatives which reclaim public space from surface car-parking, to harvesting and reusing rainwater from a large portion of the campus.
Another key sustainable design initia tive is the building’s automated layered external façade. The façade gives users unconstrained individual control and creates a dramatic display of the inter relationship of the building with its sur rounding environment.
The façade system provides thermal control to occupants through a combi nation of high performance glass, auto mated stack effect natural ventilation and automated sun-shading louvres.
The office component of the build ing, which is oriented toward the east and west, called for a special façade design which enhanced the environ mental performance of the building whilst maintaining views and individ ual control for occupants.
“One of the key sustainability principles was to optimise pas sive design throughout the proj ect. Façade design was a partic ular focus, resulting in a build ing envelope which embraces daylight penetration whilst at the same time minimises heat infiltration in summer,” says Richard Francis-Jones, design director at fjmt.
All teaching and office spaces showcase natural daylight due to the façade’s design and blinds, which are automatically adjusted to the ideal position to mitigate glare and heat infiltration.
The natural warming effect of sun on the façade is utilised to reduce heating requirements in winter. The ventilation system of the faculty office building’s dual skin façade can also be closed to naturally trap an insulating blanket of warm air around the building.
Fixed shading was designed to allow natural heating during winter and the automatic external shading adjusts sea sonally to allow more or less sun penetration.
“A detailed life cycle analysis was prepared for the double skin façade system, providing comfort that maintenance access, frequency and costing were practical and that the sys tem would remain operational for the design life span,” says Richard Desgrand.
The façade system was installed from the top down using mast climbers. “The inner floor-by-floor façade was installed first to seal the build ing. Stainless steel suspension rods were hung from a can tilever arm at the top of the façade,” Desgrand says.
“Stainless steel support arms connect to these rods and form patch plates for the outer glass and separate the two façade skins, which were then installed level-by-level. An extruded alu minium rail ties these arms together and supports the ply wood louvres with their drive system housed.
“The arms were also used to support scaffolding planks for the louvre installation. Lastly, the outer glass skin was applied.”
The glass in the façade has a low-E coating for thermal per formance without compromis ing visible light transmission. The plywood louvres have a clear water-based polyurethane seal that can expand and con tract with the plywood and also provide ultra-violet protection and a smooth-protective layer to minimise maintenance.
The natural timber from sus tainable sources also provides visual warmth to the façade. The timber was supplied and curve-formed as plywood by Slorach Design, while the stain less steel suspension system, cast stainless steel support arms, extruded aluminium lou vre support and operation rail and glazing were supplied and installed by Sharvain Façades.
The building design also includes water efficient fittings, rainwater collection and reuse, low emission finishes and sus tainable material selection.
