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The award-winning Pixel is a groundbreaking eco-building. Developed and built by Grocon, Australia’s largest privately owned developer, the building offers a glimpse of what low-carbon, future-focused architecture can offer. By Jane McCallion 64
Grocon FEATURE
El iE N vinG
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ounded in the 1950s by Luigi Grollo, Melbourne-based Grocon is the largest privately owned development and construction firm in Australia. The company is now headed by Luigi’s grandson Daniel and has made a name for itself through its commitment to innovation and quality. Grocon is primarily an Australian business. It has also provided construction systems to projects in Dubai and Mumbai. In the latter half of the 2000s, Grocon acquired the Carlton Brewery site in Melbourne City from RMIT University with a view to redeveloping it. The project as a whole, when finished, will be a mixed-use microcosm of the city, featuring Educational buildings of the University, apartments, retail units, restored historic buildings and commercial office buildings, as well as green spaces and car parks. The first project to be completed on the site is the ground breaking Pixel. This office space is an unimposing building, save for its striking exterior, standing only four storeys high on a plot measuring 250m2. Yet it is probably Grocon’s most ambitious and innovative building ever. Not only is it Australia’s first carbon neutral commercial building, it also uses several technologies that have never been used in Australia before. Overseeing the whole Carlton Brewery Project is General Manager David Waldren. As he explains, this experimental building came about partly due to the restrictions of the plot it occupies. “205 Queensbury Street – Pixel’s official address – is a modest space, surrounded on three sides by roads and other buildings. With these parameters in mind, we considered it was best suited to being a small office block. Having made this decision, we thought ‘why not make it our site office?’ The idea that we could use it as an experimental building, a prototype, simply
www.australasiaoutlook.com 65
Grocon FEATURE
followed on from that.” not the first ever vertical axis The result of this wind turbines in the world. experiment is one of the “However, the ones we are most ecologically sound using are the first of their buildings in the world. kind, designed especially for From power generation Pixel.” Pixel shows to heating and insulation, The company wanted what can be from lighting to air purity, to install super-efficient everything has been built turbines that were optimised done with a new with a low-carbon future in for use in an urban setting. construction – mind. “We approached an When viewed from engineer in Bendingo, that it is possible above, Pixel really is a Victoria, who has some to create a green building thanks to expertise in the design of next self-contained, its green roof – a garden generation wind turbines. We made of local grasses. worked together with him and carbon neutral This serves two purposes a local manufacturer to find a building – firstly it provides natural highly efficient wind-turbine insulation. Secondly, it solution. What we have come aids a rainwater capture up with are the most energy system, which collects efficient wind turbines in the water that falls on the world for this urban setting building and transfers it to and which are far above a subterranean tank. From those that are currently there, it is treated to a standard where it commercially available.” can be used in the building’s toilets, basins, Finally, Grocon have installed an showers and sinks. anaerobic digestion system into the building. Of particular note are three world-first “Effectively, the sewerage waste water technologies used in the building: a new from the building is collected into a tank type of concrete, vertical axis wind turbines where it is liquidised and the methane gas and an anaerobic digester. The type of is removed,” Waldren explains. “The gas is concrete used in the construction of Pixel, then used as a fuel source by burning it to known as Pixelcrete, was developed by heat the domestic hot water in the building.” Grocon to have 45 percent less embedded While these three solutions are new carbon than standard material of the same designs and innovations, the building uses strength. “This is a claim that we have had a lot of existing technologies that had not independently audited to show that this previously been introduced into Australia. product we have developed, and which is now “All the rest of the new-to-Australia being used elsewhere, has half the global systems we sourced from Europe. There warming potential of traditional concrete is a tendency to look to America for new used in the same type of application,” says designs and technological breakthroughs. Waldren. However, when it comes to environmentally The wind turbines, which are situated on sustainable developments, the Europeans the roof, are used in conjunction with stateare the world leaders. With the low-carbon of-the-art photovoltaic panels to meet the laws that will come into effect there in majority of Pixel’s energy needs. “These are 2020, you find ideas in common use that are 66
www.australasiaoutlook.com
Grocon FEATURE
unheard of outside that continent.” Examples of this interhemispheric acquisition include the building’s vacuum toilet system, which was brought in from Norway, or the naturally gas fired absorption cooler, which came from Italy. The construction of Pixel required the building of a number of new relationships and some strong bonds of trust. “All the equipment we brought in from Europe was from suppliers we had never worked with before,” says Waldren. “So there was a lot of effort put in by our procurements team to ensure that we chose the right people to work with and had a good relationship with them. At the end of the day, if you bring in a piece of equipment from Italy and it doesn’t work, there’s no one to call out to come and repair it.” There was also a strengthening of existing bonds. “We worked with a number of subcontractors who we had completed projects with before. With this build though, the relationship was a bit different, particularly
F
or over 30 years, Marshall Day Acoustics has been providing innovative acoustic design services to a wide range of clients around the world. We have consulted on an extensive array of projects, which now numbers in excess of 10,000 projects. Marshall Day Acoustics provides unparalleled experience in acoustic design across a range of disciplines, including: U planning and design of performing arts centres U major building projects U environmental and industrial noise and vibration U acoustic modelling software The Guangzhou Opera House, China ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects ACOUSTICIAN: Marshall Day Acoustics
in terms of the burden of risk – with such an innovative and experimental project, it was only fair that the burden of risk was shared between us, not left solely to them.” So does Waldren believe the Pixel and buildings like it are the future of construction in Australia? “Absolutely. We have to look at the way we use our resources and think about how to manage them in a sustainable way. Pixel shows what can be done with a new construction – that it is possible to create a self-contained, carbon neutral building. On the other hand, we also have refurbishment projects going on with existing and historic buildings. While carbon neutrality may not be possible, serious improvements in efficiencies are and we are proving that. This isn’t just the way forward for Grocon; it’s the future of the whole Australian construction industry. And the trend in this direction has already started.”
To learn more visit www.grocon.com.au
BEST BAR
marshallday.com MARSHALL DAY ACOUSTICS. 6 Gipps Street Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia Ph: +61 3 9416 1855 Email: [email protected]
68
www.australasiaoutlook.com
Not only has Best bar helped Grocon in its quest for carbon neutrality at Pixel through the timely supply of recycled Reinforcing Steel but it has also offered a level of service to Grocon that has impressed. Best Bar’s quick reaction time, its responsiveness to unforseen requirements and its attention to customer satisfaction has impressed Grocon Project management and staff alike.
The award-winning Pixel is a groundbreaking eco-building. Developed and built by Grocon, Australia’s largest privately owned developer, the building offers a glimpse of what low-carbon, future-focused architecture can offer. By Jane McCallion 64
Grocon FEATURE
El iE N vinG
F
ounded in the 1950s by Luigi Grollo, Melbourne-based Grocon is the largest privately owned development and construction firm in Australia. The company is now headed by Luigi’s grandson Daniel and has made a name for itself through its commitment to innovation and quality. Grocon is primarily an Australian business. It has also provided construction systems to projects in Dubai and Mumbai. In the latter half of the 2000s, Grocon acquired the Carlton Brewery site in Melbourne City from RMIT University with a view to redeveloping it. The project as a whole, when finished, will be a mixed-use microcosm of the city, featuring Educational buildings of the University, apartments, retail units, restored historic buildings and commercial office buildings, as well as green spaces and car parks. The first project to be completed on the site is the ground breaking Pixel. This office space is an unimposing building, save for its striking exterior, standing only four storeys high on a plot measuring 250m2. Yet it is probably Grocon’s most ambitious and innovative building ever. Not only is it Australia’s first carbon neutral commercial building, it also uses several technologies that have never been used in Australia before. Overseeing the whole Carlton Brewery Project is General Manager David Waldren. As he explains, this experimental building came about partly due to the restrictions of the plot it occupies. “205 Queensbury Street – Pixel’s official address – is a modest space, surrounded on three sides by roads and other buildings. With these parameters in mind, we considered it was best suited to being a small office block. Having made this decision, we thought ‘why not make it our site office?’ The idea that we could use it as an experimental building, a prototype, simply
www.australasiaoutlook.com 65
Grocon FEATURE
followed on from that.” not the first ever vertical axis The result of this wind turbines in the world. experiment is one of the “However, the ones we are most ecologically sound using are the first of their buildings in the world. kind, designed especially for From power generation Pixel.” Pixel shows to heating and insulation, The company wanted what can be from lighting to air purity, to install super-efficient everything has been built turbines that were optimised done with a new with a low-carbon future in for use in an urban setting. construction – mind. “We approached an When viewed from engineer in Bendingo, that it is possible above, Pixel really is a Victoria, who has some to create a green building thanks to expertise in the design of next self-contained, its green roof – a garden generation wind turbines. We made of local grasses. worked together with him and carbon neutral This serves two purposes a local manufacturer to find a building – firstly it provides natural highly efficient wind-turbine insulation. Secondly, it solution. What we have come aids a rainwater capture up with are the most energy system, which collects efficient wind turbines in the water that falls on the world for this urban setting building and transfers it to and which are far above a subterranean tank. From those that are currently there, it is treated to a standard where it commercially available.” can be used in the building’s toilets, basins, Finally, Grocon have installed an showers and sinks. anaerobic digestion system into the building. Of particular note are three world-first “Effectively, the sewerage waste water technologies used in the building: a new from the building is collected into a tank type of concrete, vertical axis wind turbines where it is liquidised and the methane gas and an anaerobic digester. The type of is removed,” Waldren explains. “The gas is concrete used in the construction of Pixel, then used as a fuel source by burning it to known as Pixelcrete, was developed by heat the domestic hot water in the building.” Grocon to have 45 percent less embedded While these three solutions are new carbon than standard material of the same designs and innovations, the building uses strength. “This is a claim that we have had a lot of existing technologies that had not independently audited to show that this previously been introduced into Australia. product we have developed, and which is now “All the rest of the new-to-Australia being used elsewhere, has half the global systems we sourced from Europe. There warming potential of traditional concrete is a tendency to look to America for new used in the same type of application,” says designs and technological breakthroughs. Waldren. However, when it comes to environmentally The wind turbines, which are situated on sustainable developments, the Europeans the roof, are used in conjunction with stateare the world leaders. With the low-carbon of-the-art photovoltaic panels to meet the laws that will come into effect there in majority of Pixel’s energy needs. “These are 2020, you find ideas in common use that are 66
www.australasiaoutlook.com
Grocon FEATURE
unheard of outside that continent.” Examples of this interhemispheric acquisition include the building’s vacuum toilet system, which was brought in from Norway, or the naturally gas fired absorption cooler, which came from Italy. The construction of Pixel required the building of a number of new relationships and some strong bonds of trust. “All the equipment we brought in from Europe was from suppliers we had never worked with before,” says Waldren. “So there was a lot of effort put in by our procurements team to ensure that we chose the right people to work with and had a good relationship with them. At the end of the day, if you bring in a piece of equipment from Italy and it doesn’t work, there’s no one to call out to come and repair it.” There was also a strengthening of existing bonds. “We worked with a number of subcontractors who we had completed projects with before. With this build though, the relationship was a bit different, particularly
F
or over 30 years, Marshall Day Acoustics has been providing innovative acoustic design services to a wide range of clients around the world. We have consulted on an extensive array of projects, which now numbers in excess of 10,000 projects. Marshall Day Acoustics provides unparalleled experience in acoustic design across a range of disciplines, including: U planning and design of performing arts centres U major building projects U environmental and industrial noise and vibration U acoustic modelling software The Guangzhou Opera House, China ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects ACOUSTICIAN: Marshall Day Acoustics
in terms of the burden of risk – with such an innovative and experimental project, it was only fair that the burden of risk was shared between us, not left solely to them.” So does Waldren believe the Pixel and buildings like it are the future of construction in Australia? “Absolutely. We have to look at the way we use our resources and think about how to manage them in a sustainable way. Pixel shows what can be done with a new construction – that it is possible to create a self-contained, carbon neutral building. On the other hand, we also have refurbishment projects going on with existing and historic buildings. While carbon neutrality may not be possible, serious improvements in efficiencies are and we are proving that. This isn’t just the way forward for Grocon; it’s the future of the whole Australian construction industry. And the trend in this direction has already started.”
To learn more visit www.grocon.com.au
BEST BAR
marshallday.com MARSHALL DAY ACOUSTICS. 6 Gipps Street Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia Ph: +61 3 9416 1855 Email: [email protected]
68
www.australasiaoutlook.com
Not only has Best bar helped Grocon in its quest for carbon neutrality at Pixel through the timely supply of recycled Reinforcing Steel but it has also offered a level of service to Grocon that has impressed. Best Bar’s quick reaction time, its responsiveness to unforseen requirements and its attention to customer satisfaction has impressed Grocon Project management and staff alike.
