Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney – conservation, life extension and upgrade using live digital twinning

Abstract

This article describes the feasibility studies, investigations, analysis, structural health monitoring, digital twinning, and structural adequacy verification of the repurposed 50-storey Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia. The design life of the retained building was extended by 50 years with minimum structural intervention. The adaptive reuse increased the net lettable area from 45 000m2 to 90 000m2. The 45-year-old retained components provided structural integrity for the accelerated construction programme and 80% of the lateral strength and stiffness with minimum intervention for the upgraded building. The digital twinning technology facilitated safe and speedy construction and conserved 12 079t of embodied carbon, with a carbon footprint for the gross internal area of 247kgCO2e/m2. The innovative engineering processes enabled the client, AMP, to achieve its aspirations for a unique world-class commercial building using a comprehensive approach to reducing embodied and operational carbon.