Overall View of Pacific Fair Resort Roof
Pacific Fair Resort Roof

Pacific Fair Resort Roof

 

Entered into the LSAA 2016 Design Awards (Cat 4, Large Fabric Structures #4114)

Entrant: Fabritecture (Designer and Installer)

Location: The Esplanade.   Completed: 2016

Client: Scentre Group (Westfield)

Team:  Scentre Group (Westfield), Wade Design, Textile Fabrication Services, Fabritecture 

 Application

Statement architectural fabric structure with complex steel geometry and state-of-the-art LED lighting system as part of a $670 million redevelopment of Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast.

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Description

The project was part of a $670 million redevelopment of the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre. Our project scope involved the complete design and construct (steel and fabric) of an architectural feature roof to cover the resort area of the shopping centre.

The project was designed to be a key architectural feature for the resort area of the Pacific Fair upgrade. The resort roof provides a functional weatherproof aesthetic feature that covers the first level promenade while leaving the ground level centre open creating a bright and airy space. 

The structure is located at the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast.

Design Brief

The purpose of the project was to develop Pacific Fair as the ‘crown’ shopping centre on the Gold Coast. Pacific Fair is now home to the most uniquely innovative architectural fabric structure on the Gold Coast.

The client requested the fabric structure to be a statement feature to the resort area with a dia-grid style roof and lots of curvature as the main design principles. Angled Y columns required specific locations relating to shop fronts. The latest paint system, Quantum FX was also applied to the columns

The fabric was required to be highly translucent, as the area below needed to have a bright, airy ambiance whilst still providing shade and weather protection and longevity with low maintenance.

Structural System

Geometry: We were involved in the design of this project in the concept stage in 2013. From the outset, the Westfield Creative wanted to push the boundaries of the geometry. To explore different options, the geometry was modelled using Grasshopper Parametric 3D modelling software. Two options were finalised, being the Wave Orthogonal and the Wave Diagonal. Fabritecture completed preliminary engineering on the fabric and provided advice on the build-ability of each design. The Wave Diagonal was deemed to be beyond the boundaries of steel fabrication possibilities and the Wave Orthogonal was selected. This design comprised of the following:

By far the most complex challenge geometry wise is the inner and outer edge. These are created using a large number of tangential curves (40 for outer edge and 41 for the inner edge) which, when connected together, create the undulating curved geometry required. The entire structure was modelled in Teklar and AutoCAD and then fed back into the clients master revit model to do a final check for geometry and clashes. Fabricating the steelwork for the roof posed a major risk for the project. To overcome this challenge, the entire roof - excluding column - was trial assembled during fabrication in sections. Each section was surveyed after trial assembly, and cross-checked against the theoretical geometry using the 3D model.  After fabrication, the steelwork was painted and then loaded into purpose-built cradles for freight to site. The 200 tonne of steel was delivered to site to match the installation sequence in 27 cradles.

Materials

Chukoh FGT-600 PTFE was the chosen fabric for the resort roof. PTFE was the preferred fabric as it offered the necessary translucency and longevity, and paired well with the LED lighting system. Tensile strength and a 20 year manufacturer’s warranty were also factors.

Fabrication

A complete trial assembly of sections was provided in the factory prior to installation. This was primarily due to the extreme complexity of the technical geometry of the steel.

The paint system on the steel is a Dulux Quantum FX protective coating, providing a metallic finish with a semi-gloss coating.

Collaboration

An integrated fall arrest system has been incorporated into the design of the roof structure for inspections and maintenance systems as required.

The resort roof is 5,400m2 and took approximately 11,000 man hours to complete.

Cost and Conclusion

The Pacific Fair Resort Roof project is valued at AUD$4,000,000

The final steel link-up was almost perfect at only 7mm out, which was an incredible success for the installation! The client was very happy with the outcome. The project exceeded the needs of the brief, and resulted in being awarded another million-dollar shopping centre redevelopment project with the client.

The resort roof incorporates a state-of-the-art LED system capable of illuminating the structure in both solid and alternating colours. There is also a flowing gutter system to the edge beam that follows the system on both sides. The project exceeded the needs of the brief, and resulted in being awarded another million-dollar shopping centre redevelopment project with the client.

Ref: sliders/DA2016/Cat4/4114 DP ID 231