Australian retail and commercial architecture practice Leffler Simes Architects has designed the largest stand-alone IKEA store in the southern hemisphere, in Sydney.
The store has 39,000 sqm of retail floor space, while the entire building’s footprint covers 25,000 sqm, the equivalent to two and a half rugby fields.
The Swedish furniture brand’s Melbourne Springvale store had held the southern hemisphere record for just over a month.
The store has taken just over two years from documentation to completion and is due to open tomorrow, Thursday 3 November.
The building features a 2.2km shopping path through the store.
The site’s proximity to runways and flight paths of Sydney Airport meant that the architectural approach needed to incorporate acoustic insulation to account for aircraft noise.
The construction comprised insulated wall panels, acoustic glazing units and a built up insulated membrane roof.
The building also had to meet strict and complex height restrictions, as dictated by the Airport Authority.
“During construction, crane use was impacted by the height restrictions. Extensive collaboration from all consultants from the design to construction phase ensured that the nature of the site had minimal impact on progress,” said Chris Goodman, director at Leffler Simes Architects.
Environmental sustainability was a key consideration in the design, an example being, utilising a chilled beam design as part of the air conditioning system in association with the heavily insulated building envelope to provide a very efficient air handling system.
