Tensile collaborated on a project that involved building a green facade 8m high by 90m long, covering three levels of the Podium Car Park for a new luxury apartment building in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney.

Tensile managed the entire project from concept to completion, it undertook the design work, structural steelwork engineering, fabrication, co-ordination of the artist’s work installation and the final installation. Tensile was able to offer unique solutions to the architectural challenges that arose, particularly through the use of lightweight tension products.

Tensile joined forces with the building team from FDC Construction & Fitout Pty Ltd , Lacoste & Stevenson and DJRD Architects to build an above-ground car park. Located in a busy inner-city area of Sydney, it was agreed that the car park needed to look good but not blow the budget.

The initial structural design of the facade prior to Tensile’s involvement involved having steel posts spaced around 1.8m apart with infill between the posts. Tensile redesigned and reconfigured this element to create a lightweight, economical solution using their custom Webnet mesh. The steel posts were pulled out to a distance of 8m and the mesh was installed between them. The Tensile product used was Jakob Webnet Mesh, a stainless steel tensioned mesh that is designed to be incredibly strong yet flexible. Tensile’s solution to the steel posts resulted in a saving of more than 60 tonnes of steel.

The design also has functional benefits: the plants for the green wall can be accessed from inside the building, meaning they can be watered and maintained easily without the need for external equipment. The cooling effect of green wall thanks to solar shading is another key outcome of the installation. Reports indicate that a green façade with 70% coverage of leaves for each square metre can offer a 90% reduction in long wave radiation, so there are clear environmental benefits.

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