be you

Crone Partners Architects are upgrading the amenities at Broadway Shopping Centre. Broadway is Mirvac’s signature shopping complex and best performing retail outlet, in their impressive retail portfolio.

A strong colour association principle was developed, early in the design process. The colours in the amenities and corridors, change on the various floors, to help navigate the shopper through the centre, integral to the way finding and signage strategy. In keeping with the centres strong branding theme “be you”, the amenities upgrade is the first stage in a series of projects for Broadway, seeking to rejuvenate the centre, in an eclectic mix of artwork, colour and individuality.

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sydney arcade

The Sydney Arcade was constructed in 1998. The sketches shown here, were drawn when I was a young, fresh, university graduate and illustrate my first experience at Computer Aided Design – Microstation! In those days, photo-montages were not created with Photoshop, but with paper, glue and scissors and we rendered with……..pencils and markers.

The original Sydney Arcade (c.1881) was the first arcade in Sydney. Part of our design brief, was to restore and integrate the King Street facade into the new retail street. The arcade is a curved laneway, 6 metres wide, 4 storeys high and covered by a curved glass vaulted roof. The highly detailed shop fronts for this ‘fashion street’ are treated similarly to the street facades, combining sandstone cladding, metal balconies, signage and lighting. The glazed canopy provides a sense of enclosure to the internal street, allowing open balconies to promote vertical activity. One of the features of the laneway are, two storey high bay windows that can be used as visual display shopfronts.

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beam me up scotty

I don’t know if you have seen the latest Star Trek movie? The cinematography and technology used is very impressive, especially viewed on the huge 3D IMAX screen at Darling Harbour.

This blog post however, has nothing to do with Star Trek but talks about a new ‘futuristic” lighting design developed for Mirvac at Greenwood Plaza, in North Sydney.

The light pictured below, can be found walking the concourse level at the shopping centre. We designed the ceilings late 2012, to use environmentally friendly materials, such as, the plywood louvres that form a curving, directional spine at the centre. The existing lights were replaced with highly energy efficient LED lights, providing improved LUX levels for shoppers and providing Energy Saving Certificates for the client. The futuristic lights are located at key entries to the mall and were developed with Phillips Lighting and Barrisol. Mainbrace contractors are currently managing the construction of the ceilings over the next few months.

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a buzzing greenwood plaza

Design work for Mirvac, at Greenwood Plaza, was completed end of 2012 by Crone Partners Architects and Interiors, on a number of projects including ceiling and lighting treatments, as well as respite seating. These works are currently under construction creating a buzz around the centre. Retailers and shoppers alike, are appreciating the efforts made by the Design Team to modernise the centre, which was in need of a serious make-over.

The new ceiling and lighting treatments at Greenwood Shopping Plaza, is nearly complete in 2 major zones, with a further 5 zones programmed to rejuvenation the Plaza over coming months. The design of the upper level lighting, looked at creating an artificial atrium light, similar to the existing atriums at the centre, where you see the branches of large trees through the glass roof.

The lighting is connected to a computer system allowing the light feature, termed the “birds nest” to change colour or work on a programmed loop of colours. The lighting system and design was developed through a collaborative design approach, with Crone Partners, Mirvac, Barrisol, Mainbrace and Philips Lighting.

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austereo sydney

Austereo moved to its current premises at the World Square site in Sydney, in 2006. The building is located at the corner of George Street and Goulburn Streets in “Building B”, to the South West of the site. The World Square precinct includes offices, residential and retail uses, as well as providing a piazza space in-between the buildings, for use by the public.

For those that haven’t heard of Austereo, it is a radio station worth $700m, responsible for two major radio stations brands; MMM and 2Day FM. The total Fitout costs for the project was approx. $10m.

Crone Partners, who were responsible for the World Square Master Plan site, were invited to design an interconnecting stair in the Austereo Fitout and a rooftop amenities area. The works included; a stair that connected 3 levels of the tenancy, glass lift, toilets and kitchen provisions, as well as a multi-purpose room on the rooftop, that could be used for special events.

The interconnecting stair provides a space where employees can interact in a dynamic environment. The steel stair uses a steel channel stringer and balustrades, set-out perpendicular to the stringers. Patch fitting connect the glass to the balustrades and a 50mm diam Stainless Steel handrail borders the edges. The treads are finished with a dark grey rubber finish and set in a Stainless Steel pan, that spans between the stringers creating a clean and simple soffit. The colour wall to the side of the stair is a feature of the space. The wall is made from Barrisol and the lighting is connected to a computer system, allowing the colour’s to change on demand or on a loop system. The “communication” stair encourages people to use the stair to travel between floors, instead of using the lift. Eco friendly!

austereo stair 1

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