The Bermuda Point office building is an iconic design solution to a series of very pragmatic design requirements. The project was developed and built by the Astoria Group.
Bermuda point is a strata commercial building located opposite Bond University on the Gold Coast. The building is located on the waters edge at Lake Orr and enjoys spectacular views across the lake to Arata Isozaki’s university campus.
The site forms part of the larger ‘Varsity Lakes’ master plan being developed by Delfin Lend Lease. As overall developers of the master plan, Delfin sought to maintain and ensure the highest quality of the design. As a result it was important to Astoria to provide a level of quality to satisfy the requirements of the master plan.
The developer’s brief specified an economical building which would provide maximum flexible floor space for strata offices. So, whilst the building had to be an economical structure, it also had to satisfy a master plan requirement for the highest standard of design. The result was a building made of very robust materials, which takes a unique shape to create a very exciting design statement.
The site itself was problematic as the foundation material was very poor requiring deep piling under the entire structure. At the same time the site was subject to flooding so the building had to be raised one level above ground.
The design solution was to create a large simple floor plate that could be divided into smaller ‘front to back’ office suites. This involved dividing a 20m x 64m floor plate into 8 strata tenancies each 8 x 18m in size. Each tenancy enjoys waterside frontage. A 2m-wide open walkway at the front ensured each tenancy also had a street frontage. This resulted in all tenancies being ‘through’ units to allow natural ventilation and maximize external and solar exposure. The mild climate allowed that the access walkway be open.
The design had to maximize the view opportunities to access the lake to all individual tenancies. The site itself is orientated north/south. In order to maximize views the long facades had to face east/west, and this created a sun control problem. At the same time, due to the flooding requirements, the building is supported above 2 levels of parking and it was a requirement of the master plan that the parking should not be visible from the university across the lake.
The solution to the parking issue and the problem of sun control was to clad the eastern and western facades in vertical louvre fins. The use of these brightly coloured vertical louvre fins transforms what is essentially as simple concrete floor slab building into a distinctive design. The fins provide sun protection to the offices on the western side whilst maximizing the views. They also create a delightful sense of ‘colonnade’ on the open walkway to the east. Horizontal louvres provide sun protection to the northern façade whilst maximizing the view. The northern end of the building is higher, creating an ‘L’shaped form. This tower contains additional office space where the view is best, as well as plant equipment. It was intended that the air be drawn through the building to the tower at the north. To ensure maximum flexibility for the office space and to minimize costs, all of the amenities such as toilets, lifts and stairs are located in a service pod on the eastern side of the building. This also ensures that the views to the lake from the offices are maximized. The service pod and entry stair activate and modulate the street façade.
The building was cost-effective to build, using passive environmental principles combined with standard, robust materials. The portal, which unifies the building is made from framed fibrous cement sheet, as are the louvre fins. The floor-slab soffits are painted concrete and the glazing is a standard aluminium style.
The iconic shape combined with the use of the coloured fins allows this inexpensive building to make a strong, sophisticated design statement.
