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44-50 Kirribilli Avenue, Kirribilli

Façade upgrade uplifts views & values for harbour apartment block

Buildcorp’s Asset Solutions team were engaged by the owners corporation to upgrade, remediate and modernise this 1970’s apartment block which now boasts million-dollar views over Sydney Harbour, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

The aim of the owner’s corporation was to upgrade the building’s fire systems and weather proofing, replace the façade and transform their view through improved window options. Working closely with the client’s architect and engineer, the full project scope included: demolition, earthworks, structural steel, fire rating, brickwork, façade and windows, roofing, rendering, waterproofing, painting, electrical and landscaping.

Engineered façade
The original three storey, double red brick’s facade was firstly demolished with over 90 tonnes of brickwork removed. The bricks were replaced with a contemporarily designed glass façade on a steel support frame which was fire-rated with a unique fire-engineered Magnesium Oxide Board. Buildcorp researched an engineered solution using the best façade materials and gained the required compliance approvals to ensure they were fit-for-purpose. Magnesium Oxide Board is a particularly strong material and has high resistance of fire, moisture, mould and mildew. A specialist render and paint system was then applied other areas of the facade to waterproof if further and double glazed fire rated spandrel units completed the frontage.

This selection of materials achieved full compliance with the appropriate floor to floor fire separation and maximised the viewing capacity to double the previous views of the Harbour.

Local logistics & live environment
Thanks to considered planning and communication, the works were completed over 67 weeks whilst allowing the residents to remain in the building. The site is bounded by one-way streets on Kirribilli Ave and Jeffreys Street, and St Aloysius’ College directly opposite, so careful coordination of site logistics was needed to minimise impact on the local area.

The final result is a modernised building that is fit for the future and provided owners a significant uplift (over $1.2m) in apartment values.

Client

Owners Corporation

Architect

CSA Architects

Contract sum

$3.1m

Program

67 weeks

Completion

July 2017