Stantec helps One The Esplanade achieve 6 Star Green Star sustainability

Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, helped achieve 6 Star Green Star certification for One The Esplanade, a proud office tower at the water’s edge of Elizabeth Quay in downtown Perth and Chevron’s new Australian headquarters. One The Esplanade stands at 29 floors—135 metres above sea level—and has over 57,000 square metres of office space to host approximately 3,000 people.

One The Esplanade has a number of sustainability features: targeted 5 star NABERS Energy, Water, and Indoor Environment Quality ratings, achieved precertification under the International WELL Building Institute Gold Core certificate and a 6 Star Green Star Design Review certificate, and is stamped Property Council of Australia (PCA) Premium Grade.

“There was a really strong sustainability agenda right from the start,” says Nathan Lawry, Stantec Australia’s Associate, Group Leader, Sustainability for the Company’s Buildings business. “It required a careful balancing act to optimise the inherently complex and interrelated systems involved, particularly with such a high level of amenity required for a PCA Premium grade office.”

Its unique design feature, the Oculus, is a three-story circular opening through the podium allowing natural light to penetrate many amenities including the childcare center, gym, restaurants, and reception, and its centerpiece is a large, preserved Moreton Bay fig tree. The building promotes sustainable transport modes with premiere end-of-trip facilities and is a 200-metre walk to commuter rail. The landscaped podium rooftop has an indigenous garden designed in partnership with the local Whadjuk Working Group and a façade which balances views, glare, and energy efficiency. The building has a grey water system integral to the building’s water efficiency operations—water is taken from taps and showers and gets reused within the building.

Reducing embodied emissions up front is the next frontier in terms of building sustainability, Lawry explains. “The energy emissions from operations, such as lights, air conditioning, and lifts, can be made net zero quite easily, but it’s the baked-in embodied emissions associated with materials and construction that become the greatest contributor to a project’s carbon footprint and the hardest to abate.”

The project was able to reduce the highly carbon intensive concrete component by 46 percent against business-as-usual.

Lawry recognises the importance of collaboration in achieving these sustainability outcomes. “It truly was a team effort from the start—client, design team, contractor and sub-contractors—and right the way along.” Stantec worked on the base build and interior fit-out. One The Esplanade opened in March 2023.

(Architect: Hassell)

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Paul Bromiley
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Ph: +61 2 9493 9717
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