Page updated:
Friday, 7 September 2007

SOCIETY - fresh ideas...

Eco-high life in Kogarah

The town centre had little to distinguish it from so many others. In a juxtaposed streetscape, late-Nineteenth Century buildings jostled with those of the early to mid-Twentieth Century, the place was largely bereft of people after dark - apart from commuters scurrying home from the railway station - and it looked distinctly down-at-heel. In 2003, Kogarah Town Centre had a working population of 10 000 and a residential population of 400. What better than a model of modern, resource efficient, medium density living to boost the number of people living there and to set the tone for a revitalisation of the precinct?

Kogarah Town Centre's energy and water efficient medium density development has brought residents back to the business district.

And that is just what council set out to do. With Hightrade Pty Ltd, council decided to turn a rough, gravel car park into a city block-size apartment development that would set the benchmark for energy and water efficient design.

Modern design for modern challenges

Kogarah Town Centre offers a modern design and technology solution to the contemporary challenges of energy and water conservation, population increase and Greenhouse gas emission.

In the design by architects Allen Jack & Cottier, the council car park is now located in the basement. Small businesses occupy the street front and the arcades on either side of the plaza.The street has been narrowed and seating bays extended into it. Pistachio trees have been planted along the street. When mature, the trees will provide summer shading but will lose their foliage in winter, leaving through warning sun.

Above the public area rise five levels of passive solar apartments. According to landscape architect Birgit Seidlich, this is close to the optimum people-friendly height for apartments - that from which friends in the street below can be recognised.

Just over 90 per cent of apartments have living spaces that face north (sunwards) to provide solar access, natural light and warmth in winter. Moveable, external metal louvres provide shade in the heat of summer and roll back to let in winter sunlight and to passively heat the apartments. A total of 85 per cent of apartments have cross-ventilation, reducing the need for energy-hungry air conditioning. Energy and water-efficient appliances have been fitted.

One of the most innovative elements of the design is the solar-electric power supply. Energy Australia cooperated with the University of NSW's Solarch to design the largest, building-integrated photovoltaic system in the country. The solar-electric cells are bonded to sheets of steel Colourbond roofing iron and the solar cells are integrated into the fabric of the building via skylights, photoivoltaic roof tiles and building facades.

An awning giving shelter from the sun is impregnated with solar-electric cells (the black squares in the glass) so that even functional surfaces generate electricity from the sun.

Steel louvres can be rolled across and closed to shut out the hot summer sun; opened in winter, they allow warning light into apartments.

Energy is fed from the solar panels into a 240 volt inverter and then into the building. The photovoltaic installation, which is owned by the body corporate, supplies solar electricity for lighting of the common area and for carpark ventilation. Excess energy is sold to the grid, the proceeds offsetting costs by generating income as well as energy.

The cutting-edge water conservation and reuse system was designed by the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney. Up to 6997 kilolitres of rainwater is collected from the roofs and stormwater system. This is used for toilet flushing, irrigation of gardens and washing vehicles, reducing the consumption of potable water by 42 per cent. Filtered stormwater is collected in separate tanks below the plaza and reticulated for irrigation.

The development demonstrates an urban design strategy favoured by the state government as a model for Sydney - the concentration of population in medium density dwellings close to commercial zones and public transport.

Kogarah town Centre is a model worthy of replication in every city attempting to deal effectively with population growth and the regeneration of commercial and community facility.