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RMIT Design Hub: A Sustainable Case Study

The RMIT Design Hub in Melbourne, Australia provides accommodation for diverse design research and post-graduate education. Architect Sean Godsell designed the 13,000 square meter building to consolidate RMIT's dispersed design programs. It features an automated double-skin facade with solar panels, shading, and fresh air intake to improve energy efficiency and air quality. The building's design allows for ongoing solar technology research and facade upgrades as the technology advances.

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Sana Kermani
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319 views11 pages

RMIT Design Hub: A Sustainable Case Study

The RMIT Design Hub in Melbourne, Australia provides accommodation for diverse design research and post-graduate education. Architect Sean Godsell designed the 13,000 square meter building to consolidate RMIT's dispersed design programs. It features an automated double-skin facade with solar panels, shading, and fresh air intake to improve energy efficiency and air quality. The building's design allows for ongoing solar technology research and facade upgrades as the technology advances.

Uploaded by

Sana Kermani
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Introduction
  • RMIT Design Hub Overview
  • Purpose and Scope
  • ESD Features
  • Building Façade
  • Solar Energy Integration
  • Panel Composition and Installation
  • Cooling System
  • Interior Design and Aesthetics
  • Sources

Case Study

Professor: Mana Meraji

Student: Sana Kermani


RMIT Design Hub / Sean Godsell

UNIVERSITY , MELBOURNE , AUSTRALIA

 Architects: Sean Godsell Architects


 Area: 13000 m²
 Year: 2012
 Photographs: Earl Carter
 Manufacturers: Fisher & Paykel, Lysaght, lightmoves
 Services Engineering: AECOM
 Project Manager: Aurecon Pty Ltd, Aurecon
 Façade Contractor: Permasteelisa
 Landscape: Sean Godsell Architects
 Interior Design: Sean Godsell Architects
 Civil Engineering: Felicetti
 Quantity Surveyor: Davis Langdon
 Structural Engineering: Felicetti
The purpose of the Design Hub is to provide accommodation
in one building for a diverse range of design research and
post graduate education. RMIT is a world leader in design
research however post graduates are currently dissipated
across various campuses and facilities. The Hub provides a
collegial research base where post graduates in fields such
as fabric and fashion design will work alongside those
involved in architecture, aeronautical engineering, industrial
design, landscape architecture, urban design and so on.
The Hub has a large number of ESD features and incorporates
strategies of water, waste and recycling management that are
the equal of any ESD focussed building on the planet. In
particular the outer skin of the Hub incorporates automated
sunshading that includes photovoltaic cells, evaporative
cooling and fresh air intakes that improve the internal air
quality and reduce running costs.
The cells have been designed so that they can be easily
replaced as research into solar energy results in
improved technology and part of the northern façade is
actually dedicated to ongoing research into solar cells to
be conducted jointly by industry and RMIT. The entire
building façade, in other words, has the capacity to be
upgraded as solar technology evolves and may one day
generate enough electricity to run the whole building.
The façade comprises a specifically detailed double
glazed inner skin on each face of the building and an
automated operable second skin shading device. The
second skin shading device surrounds the entire
building, from the ground floor to the roof plant level. It
is made up of nominally 600 mm diameter sandblasted
glass disks, which are fixed to either a horizontal or
vertical aluminium axel. Each axel is fixed to the outer
face of a galvanised steel cylinder of a slightly greater
diameter and nominally 130 mm in depth.
21 glass discs and steel cylinders are fixed together in
panels of nominally 1.8 m by 4.2 m, which are supported
on a secondary galvanised steel frame set out about 700
mm from the curtain wall face of the building. These are
accessed by an external service walkway on each level.
Each typical panel is made up of 12 operable glass discs and
9 discs which are fixed. At the ground and plant room levels
all glass disks will be fixed. There are 86 panels on each level
and therefore 774 panels for the nine levels of the building.
Perimeter air intakes and fine mist sprinklers incorporated
into the double glazed inner skin provide passive cooling
to the UFAD system. The water used in this ‘Coolgardie
safe’ system is harvested from the roof. Fresh naturally
cooled air provides a less expensive, lower energy
consumption and more desirable thermal comfort
alternative to a wholly conditioned work environment.
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Case Study Professor: Mana Meraji Student: Sana Kermani
RMIT Design Hub / Sean Godsell UNIVERSITY , MELBOURNE , AUSTRALIA Architects: Sean Godsell Architects Area: 13000 m² Year:
The purpose of the Design Hub is to provide accommodation in one building for a diverse range of design research and post gra
The Hub has a large number of ESD features and incorporates strategies of water, waste and recycling management that are the
The cells have been designed so that they can be easily replaced as research into solar energy results in improved technology
The façade comprises a specifically detailed double glazed inner skin on each face of the building and an automated operable
21 glass discs and steel cylinders are fixed together in panels of nominally 1.8 m by 4.2 m, which are supported on a seconda
Each typical panel is made up of 12 operable glass discs and 9 discs which are fixed. At the ground and plant room levels all
Perimeter air intakes and fine mist sprinklers incorporated into the double glazed inner skin provide passive cooling to the

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