Surry Hills Community Centre
Leading the way in sustainable design.
To state the obvious, sustainable buildings are the way of the future. Never has it been more imperative to design and build structures that touch the earth as lightly as possible.
Surry Hills Library and Community Centre by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp has led the way in sustainable building, winning the National Award for Sustainable Architecture at the AIA’s 2010 National Architecture Awards.
Not only does the centre achieve excellence in sustainable design, but it also sets new benchmarks in environmental performance for multi-purpose public buildings.
Natural grasses on the roof reduce energy loss and movement-controlled lighting for the public workspaces ensure energy is not unnecessarily used. In addition, solar panels on the roof provide supplementary power to the building.
Decor Systems worked closely with FJMT to ensure that the acoustic products worked hard to perform to the high standards that were required for this project.
Acoustic performance was essential in this library space and DecorZen was specified to achieve up to 0.85 NRC.
Beyond acoustic performance, the products also had to align and comply with the vision objectives of the project - “Green, Global, Connect” and DecorZen and DecorStyle are both GECA certified and contributed to the building’s Green Star Points.
The products were also fire-rated just as the new legislation was launched in 2009 – a testament to the way that Decor Systems will work quickly to ensure compliance with the ever-changing landscape of the Building and Construction Codes.
The external material, sourced from Spain, did not have an internal equivalent readily available in the Australian market. FJMT wished to create a look of consistency between the internal ceiling lining and external eave, so Decor Systems matched the colour and stained the veneer of the DecorStyle panels to match.
It was also a requirement that the Decor products be low VoC and low formaldehyde; both of which were accommodated.
This project is an asset to the urban Australian landscape in its forward-thinking approach to building and Decor Systems’ high-performance products slot in extremely well amongst the palette of innovative materials and design elements. And despite more than ten years since completion, the building and materials are performing optimally.
AWARDS
UDIA Excellence in Sustainable Design award
Australian Timber Design Awards Public Building high commendation.
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NRC 0.60 -> 0.75A_01D_02NRC
0.60S_03NRC
0.75R_04