Face to remember

Time frames, materials and construction costs are all constraining elements in commercial developments. Simple build forms are one response to this, and today an architect's role is often to transform simple, utilitarian shapes into striking, environmentally responsive architectural statements.

The new Accor Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park hotel presents just such a case an urban structure with a construction-efficient base form. Architectural firm PTW Architects was engaged to design the external treatment and urban design elements of the development.

The PTW team, led by principal director Tony Rossi, faced the challenge of designing a 5-star hotel on a compact site while meeting the requirements of the developer and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA).

The client required the building facades to be constructed in precast concrete with punched holes for the windows, says David Hirst, associate director of PTW.

"The challenge for our team was to create a dynamic, exciting building from a simple rectangular plan with a precast concrete facade," he says. "Given the building's form and flat facades, PTW's design gains expression through subtle relief, applied paint finishes and attached sunshading."

To avoid a punched-hole look, the windows were slightly recessed in horizontal strips. These were painted mid-grey to help them read as a long slot.

The tower component has two distinct facade treatments to reduce the mass of the tower visually and to present a dynamic form when viewed from different angles. The wide north and south elevations extend beyond the slender east and west elevations, giving the wide elevations a sheet-like quality. This is further expressed at the top of the building where the parapets to these elevations reach 3m above the roof to continue the simple, strong expression against the sky.

The colouring, fenestration and patterning of the elevations are designed to give further clarity to this architectural concept and to accentuate the blade-like modelling of the building. The wide north and south elevations are treated as white sheets with bands of glazing and grey precast concrete panels, while the narrow elevations are darker to exaggerate the contrast between the two facade treatments. The darker end elevations visually recede giving strength to the sheet-like expression of the side elevations.

"The overall result is a dynamic exterior that belies the rectangular form it encloses," Hirst says.

For further information, contact PTW Architects, Level 17, 9 Castlereagh St, Sydney NSW 2000, phone 02 9232 5877, fax 02 9221 4139. Email: info@ptw.com.au. Website: www.ptw.com.au.

Story by: Trendsideas