UTS Central Sun Shading System

Sun Shading System UTS Central The perfect balance between form and function.



The brief The University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) new Central building was designed by architects fjmt in association with Lacoste + Stevenson and djrd. The concept was to design a building that responds to its dense urban environment through both aesthetics and function. Leading up to 2019, fjmt’s senior architects had been working on a critical design feature of the project – a series of intricate, operable sun shades on the building’s north-facing façade. To deliver on this highly-complex design, fjmt sought Tilt’s expertise. As a result, Richard Crookes Constructions, the contractor, commissioned Tilt to undertake a Design Feasibility Study, Detailed Design, Manufacturing and Installation of the sun shading system. Tilt also gave fjmt access to the latest technologies by coordinating the entire design through parametric modelling. Tilt’s resulting design and delivery ensured high functionality, while complementing fjmt ’s beautifully- considered design intent.

Design feasibility study fjmt sought Tilt’s advice on the overall feasibility of its design. Following this initial discussion, Tilt was engaged to undertake a Design Feasibility Study and investigate the project’s critical design criteria, and how it could be best delivered. Tilt reviewed all of the architects’ files to date and developed a comprehensive methodology for delivering the project. Our team considered the mechanical engineering, structural engineering, wind loads, electrical integration, material selection, aesthetic and functional objectives and budgetary expectations to deliver tender-suitable drawings. Image: Early-stage sketch for prototype tender. Image: Render of the louvre body for tender documentation. The Design Feasibility Study provided the architects and builders a clear understanding of the path ahead.



Design and construction in one place Richard Crookes Constructions utilised the shop drawings and detailed specification developed by Tilt during the Design Feasibility Study to seek suppliers through a competitive tender process. Tilt’s successful tender submission focused on our ability to provide and manage the breadth of technical specialities (detailed design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning) in a single contract. We consider this capability an essential risk management strategy in delivering complex and unique design features for our collaborators. Image: Extracts from the tender documentation showing the geometric development of the concept design - how the parametric model works to develop the shapes from the unique coordinates of each bay.

Tilt coordinated over 40 suppliers to deliver the UTS Central sun shading feature.

40 Suppliers Tilt coordinated to deliver the sun shading system 108 Total louvres Tilt provided highly-detailed design (64 operable, documentation, which directly led to 44 fixed) the success of the project. 9,000 Components included Tilt used parametric modelling in Tilt’s final design for to bridge the gap between the production architects’ conceptual model and what was actually required to manufacture the sun shades.

Access to the latest technology fjmt and Tilt explored the design through parametric modelling – a digital technology that allows designers to control specific parameters of their design and examine a range of possible outcomes more rapidly. Tilt’s unique approach to detailed design and manufacturing embraces this evolving digital technology, and we worked closely with Parametric Monkey, which specialises in the management of this software for architects. The use of this technology results in complex geometries that would traditionally require a considerable number of hours to detail. Image: Architect’s tender documentation Image: Tilt’s final design for production Tilt was able to coordinate the 2D and Image: Architect’s tender documentation 3D files of the architects, builder and manufacturers, to ensure a seamless and efficient management of digital documentation. Image: Tilt’s final design for production

Why prototyping gives you cer- tainty During a traditional manufacturing process, an architect takes their design to a fabricator and receives the final physical object after that. Tilt’s process involves a prototyping stage, which allows for a more thorough assessment of the design and a clear indication of the outcome. Because the UTS sun shading system was highly detailed, Tilt created a series of visual mock-ups and performance prototypes to test the aesthetic and mechanical function of fjmt’s design. These prototypes were installed on-site and assessed by both the architect and builder, with their feedback informing the design development process. Tilt also submitted multiple mechanical prototypes to a vigorous and scientific life-cycle testing program at an accredited laboratory to ensure the longevity of the components. Image: Prototype shop drawings showing the design details used to take the concept to prototype manufacturing. Tilt’s approach enabled the architects to provide feedback on the design at a 1:1 scale, giving them confidence the result would be exactly as imagined.

Managing production and construction The project’s timeframes were extremely tight. Tilt delivered the sun shading element in just 12 months, from beginning to handover. To achieve this, we developed a procurement strategy that ensured the team could deliver on time, and an installation strategy to work in with the builder and its scaffolding schedule.

Delivering on both beauty and function There were two clear requirements of the sun shading design element – one was visual, the other, performance. fjmt focused on delivering the most beautiful outcome for its client. Consequently, Tilt developed an elegant and considered approach to manufacturing, particularly when it came to interfacing components of our design with other design elements. We needed to ensure the architects’ aesthetic pursuit balanced with the mechanical feasibility. Our role was to protect the prior and enable the latter. During the design stage, we detailed and prototyped a range of different design options before obtaining feedback from fjmt. Then we thoroughly considered this feedback and applied it to the design before finalising our shop drawings. Our team carefully reviewed how each sun shading panel interfaced with the existing building’s structure, other materials and finishes.



Image: Internal level view of Louvres The design and patterns that the sun shading system creates are reflected both inside and out of the building, giving life to a series of dynamic shapes that change with the day.



“As architects, Tilt’s value was in the way they translated our concept into a technically-sound approach. Quality for us was paramount. We hold our design intent to a very high standard, and Tilt delivered and installed our design with an equally high level of quality. ” James Perry, Senior Associate, fjmt

An interview with fjmt James Perry, Senior Associate What was FJMT’s original concept How did Tilt’s role fit in amongst for the sun shading system? contractors, consultants and sub-contractors? Before Tilt came on board, we actually had a building material called ETFE in place of the sun shading When we initially came up with the idea of using system (ETFE is Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene and is a aluminium-cut louvres made and installed in a fast fluorine-based plastic which can supplied as a series of time frame, there was concern from Richard Crookes pneumatic cushions made up of between two and five Constructions about program and cost. Following layers). Our idea was that this ETFE would provide and discussions between Tilt, FJMT, Richard Crookes and control the shading, but provide maximum transparency UTS, the Richard Crookes had confidence that we’d and therefore, light. We had several prototypes of made the right decision. It was incredible. Essentially, the ETFE system made on site to test it however we we’d made a decision that helped the builders. I’ve since soon realised the challenges with the material in this had Richard Crookes and the team on site tell me that application. having Tilt on board has been such a blessing. We went through a fast-tracked process to test what Tilt are great operators, and by all working together alternatives existed and proposed to UTS a design option seamlessly, we were able to effectively and quickly (using the geometry and patterns from the ETFE option) resolve a very complex design with a beautiful outcome where a series of large custom profiled and operable that exceeded ours and UTS’ expectations. aluminium louvres would replace the ETFE. This process of starting with the design concept of the ETFE and the What were the benefits of the resultant geometries and translating this to the proposed prototyping process? alternative led us to something completely unique that we could never have come up with starting from scratch. For us, it was critical that we had a prototype. It’s a huge benefit to be able to see the working prototype in 1:1 Why Tilt? scale. It gave the team a lot of confidence that this was the right approach. One of FJMT’s Associate Principals, John Perry (no relation) and Rob Moisy from Surface Design (the We spent time working with Tilt to develop several facade engineers for UTS Central), had worked with Tilt prototypes because it was important to get it right. We previously. We started talking to Tilt once we had an idea looked at how the mechanism worked, the rotations, about what we wanted to do with the operable louvres. repetitions and the cycle of rotations, amongst other things. Tilt was engaged to undertake a concept design phase – where they worked with us, the builder Richard Crookes We found prototyping to be a highly valuable and Construction, and UTS. This process took around six effective exercise. weeks and Tilt developed a workable concept based on what we’d documented. What are the benefits of working with an industrial designer on a project like UTS? We needed to find out if our idea was possible within the timeframe, what we could do and how we could expedite It helped that we had a very clear design intent to begin the process because we didn’t have much time. with. What you see as the end result is what we had documented (in terms of the design, geometry and form). During this phase, Tilt developed technical documentation that would enable the louvres to be Working with Tilt helped to resolve how we could manufactured. The documentation went out to tender technically deliver our design by providing a high level and Tilt was unanimously the preferred choice. of engineering input and an understanding of the possibilities of fabrication and the most efficient and As architects, Tilt’s value was in the way they translated innovative ways of using aluminium. our concept into a technically-sound approach. Quality for us was paramount. We hold our design intent to a very It has been the seamless collaboration with Tilt and our high standard, and Tilt delivered and installed our design team that has made the outcome such a success. with an equally high level of quality. It was a very seamless process. Tilt understood what we wanted and how to technically deliver something that was very complicated from a design and delivery point of view and with very limited access for installation on site.