When internationally-acclaimed architect Frank Gehry surveyed his newest creation at its official opening in Sydney this month, perhaps even he didn\u2019t know the innovation responsible for keeping this engineering marvel standing tall was conceived in a suburban garage.<\/p>\n
As one of the most talked-about buildings ever constructed in Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney\u2019s new Business School, the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building – with its rippling fa\u00e7ade and angled columns – has been referred to as a \u201ccluster of tree houses\u201d and a \u201ccrumpled paper bag\u201d, dividing opinion like much of Gehry\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
For AECOM\u2019s team, who provided a range of services for the project \u2013 including as brickwork structural engineer and services engineers \u2013 the building\u2019s unique masonry fa\u00e7ade, contorting and twisting in a three-dimensional plane for the full height of the 14-storey structure, created structural engineering challenges requiring innovative solutions.<\/p>\n
AECOM\u2019s Building Structures Lead Stephen Giblett said Gehry\u2019s unconventional design necessitated an unconventional approach to the construction and support of the brick fa\u00e7ade, an approach that has now set a precedent for future architectural design.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no building in the world that has bricks like this\u201d, Giblett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are completely unique and were invented specifically for this project. Without this innovation \u2013 and the brick support system, which we liken to the \u2018Ben Lexcen winged keel\u2019 of the project \u2013 the project would not have been viable.\u201d<\/p>\n
In collaboration with UTS and the brick supplier, AECOM\u2019s Technical Director – Buildings and Structures, Ken Morkaya, developed a unique brick, tie, mortar and backing system that solved the load, constructability and complex geometrical issues, keeping the fa\u00e7ade bricks in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked in my garage for many hours on different ways to ensure the brick design would work,\u201d said Morkaya.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe brick wall steps out at over 27 degrees in some places and standard construction with existing available tie systems proved woefully inadequate. Mock-up testing showed that the brick wall would collapse and become unstable after just four courses with wet mortar were applied.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tie system I developed enabled the brick wall to be built traditionally with up to 10 courses of wet mortar, the standard for normal masonry construction. The key innovation was a clip and tie system that held the bricks in place during construction while also providing the necessary tolerance to enable the complex curved geometry to be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUTS then carried out extensive testing of the mortar, ties, bricks and full wall height mock-up panels with load and strain gauges. This enabled confidence in the system to be achieved before full scale construction commenced.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Giblett said bricklayers working on the building had gone back to being the grand masons of centuries past to create something beautiful, with many calling their involvement in the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building\u2019s construction a \u201ccareer highlight\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the bricklayers even has a tattoo on his arm of the bricks, which shows the pride they have in what they\u2019ve achieved, and which results in the building\u2019s defining characteristic,\u201d Mr Giblett said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the outside of the Dr Chau Chak Wing building where boundaries are being pushed.<\/p>\n
AECOM designed the building services for the project, including developing the lighting design based on a concept by L\u2019Observatoire International to have the building glow from the inside.<\/p>\n
AECOM worked with UTS to embed several environmentally sustainable design (ESD) features within the building, and that have resulted in the achievement of a Green Star Education 5 Star Design Rating.<\/p>\n
One of the challenges AECOM faced in partnership with UTS was how to heat and cool the building susta…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-10403","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/10403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/10403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=10403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}