Macquarie Park Arts Precinct

Macquarie University’s objective was to refurbish and revitalise the existing Faculty of Arts precinct buildings (W6A & W6B), which were constructed in 1966 and were two of the original buildings on campus. Due to their age, they no longer met the requirements of a modern workspace or teaching facility.

In early 2017, Tonkin was engaged directly by Macquarie University for the preliminary design of the new four-storey office and museum building, new four-storey link bring, ETFE canopy, and required refurbishments for the existing buildings.

Challenges
As a large portion of the project was the refurbishment of an existing 1960s building, a typical challenge project-wide was the myriad of existing services crossing the areas of construction works. These had to be carefully identified and surveyed prior to below ground works commencing.

W6B
The existing eight-storey building was to have its entire central core removed for this refurbishment (piered footings and pile caps included). This core provided the lateral stability for the building and therefore, removing it removed the stability it provided.

Our design included a temporary bracing system that was installed progressively down the building during demolition of the core to stabilise the remaining structure against lateral loadings that may have occurred during the construction phase of the new central core. A 3D model was generated and analysed to determine the restraint loads and structure required for the temporary bracing system.

The existing building required strengthening to some existing columns and an upgrade to the FRL for some elements to meet current requirements.

W6A
Significant underpinning beams were required inside the existing ceiling space of the northern-most building (W6A) to facilitate column removal in five locations along the ground floor. These columns were supporting three-stories of the building above.

Atrium Canopy – ETFE Membrane Structure
The atrium canopy roof was proposed to be constructed from ETFE, an inflated membrane system with excellent thermal properties, light transmission and longevity. The overall size of the ETFE roof is one of the largest to be used on an educational building in Australia.

The atrium canopy spans a distance of 22m between buildings. A series of radial trusses were designed to match the existing façade of W6B, and were supported by the primary support space trusses off the large 22m high columns.

Link Bridge
The link bridge had stringent dynamic constraints, as it connected spaces used for meetings and offices with breakout and connectivity space between the two adjacent buildings. The majority of the supporting structure is visible and therefore, architecturally sensitive. Tonkin worked with the project architect to design members that were both structurally stable and aesthetically pleasing.