Image Credit : All images by Tyrone Branigan
Project Overview
Fire and Rescue NSW commissioned Group GSA to refurbish and extend the operational Fire Station and derelict upper floors to improve conditions for the fire fighters and to provide office accommodation for Fire and Rescue NSW staff as part of their relocation program from their current head office in Elizabeth Street, Sydney.
Project Commissioner
Fire & Rescue NSW
Project Creator
Group GSA
Team
Client: Fire & Rescue NSW
Principal Design Consultant: Group GSA (Architecture/Interior)
Project Manager: NSW Public Works
Structural Engineer: Birzulis Associates
Services Engineer: Erbas + Associates
BCA: Certis
Acoustic: Acoustic Logic
Access: Morris Goding Access Consultants
Contractor/Builder: Artel Constructions
Photography: Tyrone Branigan
Project Brief
The project brief was to design a functional facility that sensitively responded to the heritage context.
The priority for this design was to retain, restore and refurbish whilst expanding the existing facilities to provide a suitably functional work environment.
The brief was developed with Fire and Rescue NSW and the stations fire fighters. The fire station was re-planned to provide a more efficient use of space establishing a home for the service men and women who work around the clock within one of the Sydney CBD’s busiest fire stations. The upper floor offices accommodate relocated FRNSW staff from head office at Elizabeth Street.
Project Innovation/Need
The Fire & Rescue building underwent a major renovation in order for the Fire Station to remain operational and to utilise the upper floors for use by administration departments within the organisation.
By utilising the existing building and expanding these facilities it enabled FRNSW to embrace a new way of ‘doing business’ that unified strategic and transactional centres.
Creative and considerate finishes and fitting from the floors to the bell tower compliment the buildings heritage.
Contemporary applications and modern construction techniques were inspired by methodologies adopted a century ago - Innovation, decoration and social creation, providing a facility aligned with contemporary work processes.
FRNSW will be able to realise opportunities to meet future Government growth / shrinkage in owned premises and will not be inhibited by long-term leasing arrangements but ultimately this development provides investment in FRNSW owned properties.
Restoring this government asset has provided Fire & Rescue NSW with the necessary facilities to continue to deliver services within the community. As such there is no capital gain for developing this site but the true success is in the reinstatement of a heritage asset and the upgrade facilitating the organisation for the foreseeable future.
Design Challenge
Key aspects to the environmental sustainability of the design and build are in the well commissioned design elements, materials and material re-use.
Major hurdles included:
• Seismic stabilisation works to the façade and internal floors
• Methods to prevent the locally listed heritage building from collapse
• Retention of key heritage items such as the pressed metal ceiling in the engine bay
Latent conditions included:
• Connection to underground services
• Removal of excessive hazardous materials
• Structural integrity of existing walls
One of the largest objectives for the development was to upgrade the structural integrity of the building to a category 4 seismic stabilisation. This was achieved with a meticulous design and then construction process of a new steel portal frame to shore up and protect the existing heritage envelope. Brick dust was carefully collected from the Helibar penetrations made in facade, then mixed with mortar to infill the holes in the original brickwork to retain the appearance of the facade.
All factors considered, patience, understanding, innovation, collaboration and craftsmanship in the design and construction team ensured that the Fire Station and offices could be operational in February 2016.
Sustainability
Retention of the main building coupled with the recycling of materials including timber floor boards and bricks from dismantled buildings minimised environmental and urban context impacts.
The building tenancy achieved a Greenstar (interior fit-out) rating of 4.0 and an estimated NABERS for the level 1 and 2 offices of 4.5 stars.
Key contributions:
- Indoor Environmental quality (Natural Ventilation. Mechanical vent sensors and working methodology)
- Waste Management (Removal of hazardous materials + recycling)
- Water (Heat pumps, efficiency in tapware and best practice)
- Materials - Locally sourced (Internal finishes, furniture and FFE)
- Lighting selection and motion sensors (control of lighting levels and operations during 0% occupancy)
- Energy (Building Management)
- Transport (Access to CBD and commuter links)
- Landscaping (No landscaping within the site had been implemented previously)
- Section J1 Building Fabric and J2 glazing
- Low-E tinted double glazed facades (glare, heat + solar)
- Utilisation of existing services
2016 Sydney Design Awards
Architecture - Public and Institutional
This award celebrates the design process and product of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. Consideration given for material selection, technology, light and shadow.
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