Tzannes' design for the International House Sydney reveals the unique beauty of timber

A striking, exposed timber structure is what makes the International House Sydney stand out in the city's Barangaroo precinct. Designed by locally based Tzannes, whose founder Alec Tzannes won the honorable Australian Institute of Architects' Gold Medal last month, the project is the tallest timber-engineered commercial building in the world. 

To add to that, the building won the Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award for Commercial Architecture and the Milo Dunphy Award for Sustainable Architecture in the 2018 NSW Architecture Awards. 

Read on for more about the project.

Structural engineered timber and recycled hardwood timber are extensively used throughout the six-floor building, which Tzannes designed for Lendlease. Timber is used in the building's floors, columns, lift shafts, stairs, bracing, and most noticeably, its dynamic double-height colonnade — which “explores a new form of beauty”, Tzannes describes on their website. The building is supported by a ground-level, conventional concrete structure that is being used for retail.

“The use of approximately 60 cubic metres of reclaimed ironbark and turpentine hardwoods to form internal cladding in the lobby, lift and to form the colonnade structure further adds to the sustainability credentials whilst lending a sense of a soul to the building through the known chain of custody on materials,” the NSW Architecture Awards jury commented. 

Other sustainable elements include passive chilled beams and a de-coupled outside air supply system that cool the building and reduce noise levels. “A substantial 120kW rooftop solar PV array provides peak energy demand reduction and contributes towards the predicted 5 Star +30% NABERS Energy Rating. The building is also rated at 6 stars under the Green Star Office v3 rating tool, demonstrative of its world leadership in sustainable design,” the jury describes.

Photos courtesy of the 2018 NSW Architecture Awards.