Building J. MDC in Castle Hill
COUNTRY: DHARUG NATION
LOCATION: CASTLEHILL, NSW
The Museums Discovery Centre (MDC) in Castle Hill, Sydney, is a site owned and operated by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS). The site currently contains six large buildings housing facilities for the display, storage and conservation of the Powerhouse Museum collection. Lahznimmo architects were engaged by Create NSW (for MAAS) in 2018 to design a new 9,000sqm building on the site, to cater for:
-Storage for the Powerhouse collection and archives
-Flexibles spaces for education and public programs, workshops, talks, exhibitions and events.
-Conservation laboratories and collection work spaces.
-Photography, digitisation and collection documentation facilities.
-Work space for 50 staff and visiting researchers.
-Object and exhibition preparation, packing, quarantine and holding areas.
The facilities in the building are multifaceted to serve the needs of a variety of user groups including staff, volunteers, education groups, researchers, artists, scientists, industry partners and the general public. Along with the operational and storage components of the brief, the project aims to increase public access to the Powerhouse collection through a range of spaces for visible storage, research and viewing of the collection, as well as flexible spaces for education and public programs, workshops, talks, exhibitions and events. The “visible store” aspect of the brief becomes most pronounced within the main entry vestibule - here a 6 metre high and 20 metre long glazed opening allows public viewing into the 3000 sqm Very Large Object (VLO) storage area, housing Powerhouse Museum VLO objects such as planes, trains and automobiles.
Sustainability
The following initiatives have been implemented into the building design to demonstrate the museums commitment to social, economic, and environmental sustainability within the sites design, construction, and operation.
-A high-performance building envelope that exceeds the requirements of the National Construction Code.
-Installation of 92 roof mounted photovoltaic panels to supplement the energy needs for the building.
-A centralise HVAC system to provide humidity and temperature control to the facility in a highly energy efficient manner.
-Well controlled LED lighting system to allow minimisation of energy use in space lighting and the exploitation of daylight where available.
-Material selections that help minimise environmental impact
-A rainwater capture and reuse system.
-Water and energy efficient appliances and fixtures
-Provisioning for the removal of most fossil fuels from the site into the future.
-High performance doubled glazed glass as part of the building envelope.
-Pale roof and wall surfaces to minimize heat gain and accommodate the expected increased surface temperatures as a result of climate change, and
-The benchmarking of the site to exceed Australian Best Practice Sustainability as defined by the Green Building Council of Australia.
