Wind Tunnel Study Of Facade Pressures Projects In Australia
Overview Of Wind Tunnel Testing & Facade Pressure Study Done For ERA, 7 Railway Street, Chatswood
Windtech Consultants have had the privilege of being a key consultant with respect to wind engineering services for many of the towers within the Chatswood CBD precinct. Past and/or ongoing projects include 7 Railway Street, Chatswood Civic Place, Chatswood Transport Interchange, Mandarin Centre, Pacific Place, The Regency and Metro Residential Towers.
For the 7 Railway Street project, Windtech Consultants conducted Structural Loads and Building Motion Studies using the High Frequency Force Balance Technique. These tests enabled an accurate determination of wind loads on the structural frame and equivalent-static load cases on the tower.
For the development, no acceleration problem was found, largely due to the efficient design of the structure.
A Facade Cladding Pressure Study was undertaken to obtain facade cladding design pressures. In general, the wind tunnel results represented pressures lower than predicted by the code estimate while accounting for pressure hot spots, enabling the facade engineer to optimise the design over the building envelope.
A Pedestrian Wind Environment Study was also undertaken. The results indicated areas around and within the site which exceeded recommended comfort and safety criteria. Windtech investigated measures such as trees, shrubs and screens, and tested them in the wind tunnel until an acceptable solution was reached.
Windtech was involved in assessing natural ventilation performance for the residential apartments. Through wind tunnel modelling, Windtech advised on suitable window openings and demonstrated that the development satisfied natural ventilation compliance criteria.
Direct Solar Access studies and a Solar Light Reflectivity Analysis were also undertaken to understand sunlight access and visible light reflectivity impacts for the glass facade.