National Australia Bank

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Client
Bovis Lend Lease

Value
$250m

Architect
Bligh Voller Nield

Project Manager
Lend Lease

Client Needs
The National at Victoria Harbour is the new headquarters of the National Australia Bank
and is a landmark development in the Melbourne Docklands.  The bank required a sustainable building that provided a state of the art workplace for its employees. 

Bassett Solution
Bassett provided ESD and mechanical design services for the operable facades and natural ventilation strategies of the buildings.  One of the sustainable initiatives included mixed mode ventilation to the sunrooms and wintergardens, this included operable facades, radiant heated slabs and natural ventilation through thermal chimneys.

To achieve this, the building includes approximately 800 actuators driving windows and 4 off 50m tall thermal chimneys which drive the natural ventilation system in the wintergardens.  The system is controlled through a combination of user and building automation controls allowing for increased user comfort within the space.

Value for Client
Extensive thermal and CFD modelling of the natural ventilation process in the buildings has been undertaken to establish airflows and conditions within the space.  During the installation a comprehensive test program to prototype the various operable facade elements of the building was undertaken.  This resulted in an innovative system, which delivered the desired results to the client and a demonstrated 4.0 Star ABGR building.