Clarence Integrated Care ETFE Skylight
Project Details
Location: Rosny Park, TAS
Completion Date: 2012
Size: 300 sqm
Fabric: ETFE - Nowofol
Constructed in 2012, the Clarence Integrated Care ETFE skylight was MakMax Australia’s first ETFE project on home shores. Built in collaboration with our Europe office, the dual-layer ETFE roof perfectly integrated with the new, modern health-care facility in Tasmania.
The Brief
Clarence Integrated Care in Rosny Park Tasmania is a GP Super Clinic and combined services health-care centre. Built between 2010 and 2012, MakMax Australia was involved in the final part of stage 2 construction, in partnership with VOS Construction to design, supply and install of a modern ETFE skylight.
The Concept
Intended to cover a room dedicated to Physiotherapy at the Rosny Park GP Super Clinic, the use of ETFE-foil as a roofing material was aimed at allowing plentiful natural light into the area.
The project itself involved a large amount of design co-ordination with both the client and our Europe office – Taiyo Europe, who fabricated the cushions and extrusion system in Germany.
The steel fabricator also required extremely detailed drawings and 3D models from our in-house design and engineering team in order to create the optimal frame for construction.
The Materials
The ETFE skylight is made of 10 dual-layer ETFE pillows, each measuring 4m x 6.5m. The two layers of 200-micron ETFE film feature a 46% frit patter (polkadots). ETFE foil is lightweight (it weighs 1% of the equivalent-sized glass panel), highly transparent to UV light, is not degraded by sunlight, has better insulation properties than glass, is recyclable and can take up to 400 times its own weight.
The ETFE cushions are kept inflated using an integrated air-blower unit with inbuilt dehumidifier. The pump features a pressure monitoring system to keep the pillows at the optimum pressure. In addition to the dehumidifier, the pump has two fans working at a low capacity. If one fan were to fail, then the second fan is still capable of keeping the system pressurised.
The roof structure also features condensation gutters and bird wires to protect the inflated cushions.
The Result
The first ETFE roof for MakMax in Australia, the project was a successful collaboration with the European division of Taiyo Kogyo Group and highlights the true strength of being part of a global community of tensile membrane experts. Both VOS Constructions and FB & P Architects were very pleased with the way the project ran, as well as the look of the final product.
The Clinic itself was very pleased with the natural light the transparent roof provided, however, noted that in the middle of summer, the insulating properties of the ETFE worked so well, so room required additional air-conditioning during to keep cool. The heat-retention properties are perfectly suited, however to the long, cold winters on the shores of the Derwent.
