The recently opened Workplace6 is part of the third stage of Sydney’s Darling Island Master Plan. The site, opposite Star City Casino on the waterfront at Darling Island, is managed by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA).
SHFA initiated the contract for a benchmark building in environmental design and construction with GPT, in conjunction with Citta Property group, winning the contract.
The first commercial development to achieve a 6 star Green Star rating for design in NSW, Workplace6 has achieved PCA grade specifications and is targeting a 5 star NABERS energy rating.
Construction commenced in April 2007 and completed in November 2008, providing approximately 18,200 sq m of space over six storeys and offers some of the largest commercial floor plates in Sydney, of over 3600 sq m.
The building was acquired by the GPT Wholesale Office Fund in December 2007 for $183.6 million. Accenture and Google have leased 96 per cent of the office space for 12 and 10 year terms respectively, while Doltone House has signed a 15 year lease for the 1,800 sqm retail space on level 1.
The location, in the Sydney CBD fringe market of Pyrmont, is seen as an increasingly sought after destination for tenants seeking cost effective office space with close proximity to the CBD. Organisations such as American Express, Fairfax and the Seven Network have all moved to the location in recent years.
Building features include:
· 16,200 sqm of office space over five levels, and 1,800 sqm of ground floor retail space
· large floor plates, with a typical floor area of 3,620 sqm
· open central atrium zone providing a sense of space in the lift
· core zone, allowing light to reach the centre zone of each floor
· no point on the large floor plate is more than 12 metres from an external window or the atrium
· parking for 135 cars
· 120 bike racks (with GPT also providing bicycles for tenant use)
The building responds to an increasing demand from tenants for more usable space which minimises the impact on the environment, available at a commercially viable rent and CBD fringe location.
Key environmental initiatives include:
· a gas-fired generator to generate power for the building onsite, reducing the peak load by 25 per cent; the waste heat from the generator is then used to run an absorption chiller that will cool the building
· 25 per cent Green Power
· leading water management features such as a black water recycling system that will treat sewage on-site. Potable water yielded from black water recycling will be used for toilet flushing, with excess water offered to the local community for irrigation of the adjacent parks and gardens
· rejection of waste heat from the building to the adjacent harbour, in lieu of the use of cooling towers. This will have the effect of significantly reducing the water consumption of the building, as well as eliminating the risk of legionnaires disease
· roof mounted solar panels to heat the building’s water
· the use of recycled materials, sustainable timber and minimal use of PVC
· maximisation of natural light and air quality through the use of chilled beam technology and operable facades which allow tenants to install open wintergardens in various locations throughout the campus-style workplace
· high technology façade and sun shading devices to reduce heat load on the building.