Cable Net Facade Feature - New Entrance

The redevelopment of Whitten Oval formed a pivotal piece in a plan to reinvigorate the western suburbs of Melbourne by providing services and facilities that would promote a sense of community. The plan had involvement from both State and Federal Governments and sort to place Whitten Oval at the centre of the community as a hub for local sporting and health service activities.

The Whitten Stand conversion, designed by Peddle Thorp Architects in Melbourne, called for a feature on the façade that responded to its context, was an identifiable entry, and provided an environmental benefit in the form of shading for the glazed façade behind. The resulting design was a series of floating panels that would display the team colours of the grounds home AFL team, the Western Bulldogs. The façade feature would run from the first floor to the roof acting as a gateway for supporters.

LSAA 2011 Design Award Entry (Cat 5, 5042) Jagged Edge - Queenstown NZ

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

An Atypical design and Construct project involving a house for a confidential client. The design was prepared and presented as a “Design+Construct” package that was purchased as a package by the Client. The Builders Team had prepared preliminary documentation based on advice from specialist consultants and Architects. The design was then proposed for sale to the market as a complete delivery vehicle.

The project is a residential building built on the side of hill with an impressive vantage point. The main goal of the design is to maximise transparency to optimise the view.

APPLICATION OF PROJECT:      
Playground Shade Structures 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Situated in East Perth, Wellington Square is one of the largest parks within the City of Perth and the star attraction is certainly the 3000m2 intergenerational playground Koolangka Koolangka Waabiny, one of the biggest playgrounds in greater Perth consisting of nature play, a skate park, parkour activities, a flying fox, embankment slides, a pump track, waterplay and climbing towers, as well as basketball courts.  Large areas of the playground are covered by 3 large bespoke shade structures.

These shade structures consist of cantilever steelwork posts (by others) supporting complex hypar shaped sails constructed from Carl Stahl X-Tend Mesh with Ronstan cable borders. Decorative aluminium and perspex discs attached to the mesh with bespoke Ronstan clips to provide the shading effect.

LSAA Design Awards 2009 Entry

Entrant:            Taylor Thomson Whitting - Designer
Location:           Surry Hills NSW
Client:               City of Sydney Council
Architect:          Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp
Struct. Eng.:     Taylor Thomson Whitting
Specialist:          Mech Eng: Steenson Varming
Others:             Austress
Builder:             WBHO Probuild

No further details of this project have been entered. Project Category - Glazing

2022 LSAA DESIGN AWARDS ENTRY #0625 Singapore Bird Paradise

IDENTIFICATION NUMBER           PE 0625 

ENTRY CATEGORY (1-8)   ALTERNATE CATEGORY (1-8)
PROJECT SIZE   5 Aviaries and 1 amphitheare  (100,000 sqm) + 3,000 sqm

ENTRANT ROLE      Designer/Engineer

PROJECT NAME:    Singapore Bird Paradise 

APPLICATION OF PROJECT: 

In 2016, it was announced that Jurong Bird Park will be moved to a larger park at Mandai Lake Road.  This move was part to consolidate the park with 3 other wildlife parks and a new Rainforest Park creating the Mandai Wildlife Reservice.  The new Park Bird Paradise was opened in May 8 2023

DESIGN / FABRICATION / INSTALLATION BRIEF
The project was to create a series of avairies using a cable net and stainless steel mesh that will not only house the wildife and conservation purposes but also provide a unique environment whereby patrons can traverse within the habitat (along elevated walkways) and learn about the wildlife (within various pods) and be at one with nature (at the tree tops)

Entered into the LSAA 2007 Design Awards (3837) Project Category Cablenets

Entrant: UFS Australasia Pty Ltd

Client: Sydney Attractions Group
Architect: Misho & Associates/ RIHS Architects – Misho & Gerry Rihs
Structural Engineer: Fabric: Wade Consulting - Joseph Dean, 
Steel: S2 Corporation Murray Allen    Fabricator(s): Fabric Shelter Systems Graham Griffin

Application and Function:

Located on the eastern side of Darling Harbour the recently opened Sydney Wildlife World adds an iconic landmark to the Darling Harbour foreshore. The urban zoo is an extension to the facilities at the Sydney Aquarium. The wildlife park has been created to accommodate Australian wildlife in as natural an environment as possible to give short stay Sydney visitors exposure to the unique Australian fauna and floor.

Ronstan Ribbons of Light

Ronstan Tensile Architecture provides full-service engineering, design assistance, and installation services for an innovative catenary lighting system that spirals through the Watergardens Town Centre in Taylor Lakes, Victoria.

Watergardens Town Centre is a 56 hectare community hub that offers shopping, dining, entertainment, hospitality, and other business services. The area has been a vibrant and growing part of Taylor Lakes township since its 1997 opening, attracting droves of visitors to its 200+ specialty stores and community events.

Recently, the Centre has expanded to include a dining-focused "eat street" called Station Streat, which is now outfitted with a custom Ronstan catenary lighting system. This system, designed by Electrolight and Ronstan, stylishly assists in making the area functional after dark without being obstructive to walking paths. More importantly, the system creates a spectacular entry statement with its unconventional 3-D "ribbon like" design that speaks to the geometric language of the Centre's existing graphic motif.

Other Structural Forms - Cablenets, Glazing, Facades, Spaceframes

The LSAA has groups of members interested in cablenets, high technology glazing and facades.

In fact one main reason for the creation of the LSAA  from the MSAA was to cater for the growing number of projects which involved large glazed areas being supported by pretensioned cable truss systems or cablenets.

In modern times, when the overall energy usage for the life of a building is taken into account, the use of high technology facades will become more important. There is also a growing use of "green facades" or vertical gardens.

The traditional spaceframe structures are becoming rarer - those with many small elements that are man-handled and connected together on site. Labour costs and erection times are now outweighed by fewer larger assemblies that can be installed quickly by cranes.

The LSAA would welcome articles and links to projects in this category. 

LSAA 2007 Design Awards Entry 3348 Category:Projects -- Glazing

Entrant: Taylor Thomson Whitting

Client: University of Sydney      Architect: FJMT
Structural Engineer: Taylor Thomson Whitting
Specialist Consultant(s): MPG Façade Innovations
Builder: A W Edwards      Fabricator(s): Long Span Steel

Application and Function: This is an office and lecture building. It forms the entrance to the Engineering walk.