New South Wales Government Stores

Jürgen Adam, Katharina Hausmann, Frank Jüttner

Description

The design and construction of this storage building in Sydney was commissioned by the New South Wales Government Stores Department. This authority deals with bulk procurement of materials for government institutions like schools and hospitals.

The storage building by Harry Seidler & Associates is situated on a plane site and comprises approximately 16,000 m² of storage area as well as nearly 5,000 m² of loading and handling space. In order to ensure flexibility and independence of the transport and loading equipment, the main storage area was designed as an open space with a clear height of 6 m. The delivery vehicles arrive at the loading bays on the ground level of the storage hall. The transport and loading equipment can operate freely between the lower delivery areas and the upper main storage via spiral ramps. The staff facilities are located in existing buildings belonging to New South Wales Government Stores and are linked to the new storage building by a bridge. During a later phase, a further administration building facing the main access road was added.

To create the required column-free space, a plane space truss was chosen for the roof structure. This is stiffer and lighter than common girder structures. It consists of galvanised round steel tubes, which are connected with aluminum nodal joints. The overall roof area of the storage hall is composed of 15 segments – three in transverse and five in longitudinal direction – which are supported by cone-shaped concrete columns.

Strip windows and skylights provide natural lighting of the hall. In order to prevent direct sunlight from damaging the stored goods, all glazed areas are fitted with vertical solar blinds. The exterior walls consist of pre-stressed exposed concrete elements roughly 10 cm thick, with a rough finish.