University of Technology Sydney Business School. Sydney. NSW. Australia.
S 33° 52.880 E 151° 12.080
56H E 333655 N 6249545
Frank Gehry's new teaching and research facility for Sydney's University of Technology has now opened, and has been described as "the most beautiful squashed brown paper bag". This unusually stunning building stands in Central Sydney, on Ultimo Road.
Waymark Code: WMQCA6
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 02/03/2016
Views: 15
This unusual odd-shaped building is simply stunning. It is impossible to describe it, you simply have to see it! The shape? it's all shapes! Curves, jutting out pieces, angles, all make up the most stunningly interesting masterpiece.
The Dr Chau Chak Wing facility for UTS Business School is located on the university's city campus, just south of Sydney's Central Business District. The building's curvy structure – created using 320,000 custom-designed bricks – had prompted critics to compare it to a crumpled paper bag. But at the opening ceremony Australia's governor general Peter Cosgrove introduced it as "the most beautiful squashed brown paper bag I've ever seen". exerpt from dezeen.com website.
A fantastic description and interior photos can be found at this link dezeen.com (
visit link)
Construction began in November 2012, and completed in early 2015. The building was opened by the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on 3 Feb. 2015.
Facts and Figures of this amazing building:
*Number of straight columns: One
*Sharpest angle: 72 degrees
*Length of the longest unbroken column: 13.78 metres
*Number of bricks: 320,000 bricks were laid by hand to create the tessellated facade using five custom-made brick types, manufactured by Austral Bricks in Bowral. Each brick was connected to the infrastructure using a brick-fixing system developed for the project. The bricks were so difficult to lay that master bricklayer Peter Favetti came out of retirement. Because the walls are curved, and many of the bricks stick out at angles, laying the bricks took five times longer than traditional face-finished bricks.
*Best spot to see it: ABC managing director Mark Scott's office in the adjacent ABC building. Frank Gehry went to the area to get his first good look at the site in late 2009.
*Numbers of workers: About 1500 during construction.
*Number of students and staff it will accommodate: 1630
*Environmental ratings: 5-Star Green Star rating thanks to features such as the air-conditioning system, which works similar to a sensor light in that it adjusts on and off with people in the room, and Gehry's innovative lighting specialist who eliminates the need for most exterior lights by making internal lights cast a light outside.
The building can be viewed best from the street corner of Ultimo Road and Omnibus Lane area in Ultimo, Central Sydney. Take time to walk around and view from all the different angles.