Australia’s tallest manmade waterfall

Referred to as the Manhattan of Sydney, the thriving Sydney-suburb of Waterloo is about to experience a green revolution as a new four-tower development brings nature back to the city with the construction of a seven-storey waterfall.

The $400-million development Waterfall by Crown Group under-construction at 18 O’Dea Avenue is already popular with Sydney families wanting to live close to the city after a successful sales launch in June.

Designed by award-winning Sydney-based architects SJB, Waterfall by Crown Group will comprise 331-apartments across three seven-storey buildings and an iconic 20-storey sculptural tower overlooking lush, tropical landscaping and a beautiful water garden.

Waterfall by Crown Group was designed to create an urban oasis and a sense of escape from the hustle and bustle, bring nature back to the city.

Although construction of the waterfall itself has not begun, a full-scale prototype was tested last week to select the desired weir for water to flow from.

Crown Group and a team of experts tested four different types of waterfall weirs (Piano Keys Weir, Radius Weir, Wave Weir and Saw Tooth Weir) to see which one is both visually pleasing whilst passing all the construction tests. During testing the team altered the type of weir and also the volume of water coming over the edge.

Testing of weirs helped to refine the design and the optimum flow rate of water. Tests were also carried out on the blade walls surrounding the waterfalls which will contain the drift of the spray.

Four weirs will be used in total, creating four separate waterfalls at varying heights up the building. Wind monitors will also be installed to monitor wind speeds which may then vary the volume of water being discharged and which would allow some waterfalls to be switched off in periods of high wind.

Crown Group Chief Operating Officer (COO) Pierre Abrahamse said the tests helped to extract valuable data for the design and construction teams.

“Crown Group is committed to quality control and is committed to ensuring quality control of the installation of the waterfall,” Mr Abrahamse said.

“These tests investigated all the future operational aspects of the design and help to ensure that operation and maintenance is simple into the future,” he added.

After the tests were complete, National Construction Director Craig Elgie said he was pleased with the result.

“The tests were successful in gathering information on many aspects such as water volumes, water trajectory and the performance of the various types of weirs. Based on the result we will make some minor adjustments to the design so we can begin construction of the final waterfall,” Mr Elgie said.

“To conduct these tests and finalise the design we drew on the expertise of an international waterfall consultant who worked closely with our National Services Design Manager Phillip Newman to analyse the hydraulic performance of the waterfall,” he added.

The final waterfall will be positioned on an exterior wall of one of four buildings in the development complex.

Set to be completed in 2020, the project will include public art by Mika Utzon Popov, grandson of Sydney Opera House architect Jørn Utzon, in the form of a large-scale artwork.

An early indication of the popularity of the project, more than 2000 people attended a star-studded unveiling of the development’s design at Royal Hall of Industries, in Sydney in May.

Story by: Crown Group