QV1 Office Tower | Perth, Western Australia

The 40 storey tower is shaped to maximise the panoramic views toward the Swan River for most of the 1,600 m2 typical floors.

On the north, protected from prevailing winds, an open urban space was created on two levels, centred on a circular opening, which is surrounded by restaurants and shops. Tables and chairs for outdoor eating are placed under tall palm trees facing the area's focal point - a cascading waterfall originating from a pond in the upper plaza and flowing into a shallow pool from the base of the waterfall into the centre of the circle. External sunshading is applied to the glass-walled tower.

The two longest facades face to the south-east and south-west, receiving the early morning and late afternoon sun's rays. In addition to fixed horizontal shades, angled vertical blades were introduced to protect the glass walls from low sun angle penetration.

A broad suspended glazed canopy stretches across some 50 m of the tower's entrance frontage.

The central supporting columns are turned away and fused with the adjacent supports into structurally expressive hyperboloid-shaped piers. The resulting 12 m-high space in the lobby is overlooked from progressively stepped-back mezzanine levels.