It’s remarkable what a difference a new perspective makes, a location usually viewed through a car window reveals hidden wonders when on foot in the company of a knowledgeable guide.
A discovery made by 15 participants in the May walking tour, led by Kylan Low, WoodSolutions representative in NSW. The route followed the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, with stops at new and old award-winning timber structures.
After meeting and greeting at Walumil Lawns, Barangaroo, the eclectic mixture of architects, engineers, builders, and building designers headed off to the first stop at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, where two magnificent timber wharf warehouses have been recently renovated. The structures house the Sydney Dance and Theatre Companies and recently won the 2022 Australian Timber Design Awards – Interior Commercial category.
The visit to the wharves was led by Paul Lemmerman, asset manager from CreateNSW and Richard Crookes Construction’s project manager Peter Fulton. The tour was extensive, covering all parts of the structures. In the main, timber has been left as it was installed around 100 years ago, but a modern theatre and dance stage have been inserted.
Leaving Walsh Bay, the tour party headed towards Pyrmont Bridge. On the way, the tour passed Barangaroo House, known locally as the Birds Nest building. Designed by Collins and Turner Architects, this striking local landmark won the Australian Timber Design Awards Best Façade in 2018. The façade, reminiscent of a bird’s nest, is made from a beautiful wound Acoya dowel structure wrapping around the building on three levels.
Arriving at Prymont Bridge, the group paused to hear about a parallel chord truss road bridge built in the early 1900’s. The engineer Percy Allen designed it with a steel truss swing span with ironbark timber truss approach spans. The current maintenance team leader, Nathan Manns from Marine and Civil Maintenance, explained how they were repairing elements in the bridge. Each truss was propped, the deteriorated elements replaced and a targeted 50 mm camber introduced into the truss. An exacting task, often done over water.
Leaving Pyrmont Bridge, the party headed for International and Damaru House in Barangaroo. Both are modern post and beam mass timber buildings, designed by Tzannes. International House won the 2017 overall winner and the Commercial Building category of the Australian Timber Design Awards, while Damaru House won the Commercial Building category in 2020.
Kylan explained that the two buildings look similar from the outside, but structurally there was an evolution in design between the International House and Damaru House. The main noticeable difference is that the primary beams change direction to allow savings in creating holes in beams for HVAC.
The walking part of the tour concluded after some 7 km of walking, with everyone having done their steps for the day!
Adjourning to a WoodSolutions Young & Old Networking Event at Northrop's CBD offices, the afternoon concluded with chat and refreshments.
Feedback from participant’s was very positive – including:
“The walking tour was a wonderful celebration of timber in construction, both how it has been used (and endured) and how it can innovate and still be relevant within modern construction. The tour set an ambitious program, but its guides were flexible enough to follow the feet and interests of the group. The walk commanded an afternoon but kept our interest throughout, so was an enjoyable and informative experience.”
Isabelle Pfaeffli, beeboCONSTRUCTIONS
“Thank you again for organising the WoodSolutions Walking Tour! It was very interesting and informative.”
Matthias Mikolaj, Austrian International Trade Advisor
If you’d like to hear about similar free WoodSolutions activities, please register your details at the website. (https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/user/register)
Case Studies
2017 ATDA Winner: International House Sydney
