Located in the heart of the Double Bay village, Pallas House is a landmark property which has undergone a $13.5million transformation. The luxury commercial and retail development embodies creative adapt & reuse of the heritage structure. The project consists of a full refurb and fit-out of the existing 4 storey building, including the relocation of the stair and lift cores and the addition of two extra floors with provision for a future outdoor roof terrace.
To facilitate this, our Construction Engineering experts carried out an assessment and upgrade to the building’s structural capacity, including strengthening of the existing columns using steelwork and strengthening of the existing foundations using microfine grout injection. A new transfer slab was designed over the existing roof to allow maximum flexibility in column locations for the new levels.
Design options were explored for the additional floors during the preliminary design stages, including CLT timber floors and steel concrete composite structures to reduce building weight. Ultimately, a steel concrete composite structure was selected due to its superior performance, ease of procurement and construction and its compatibility with the existing building visuals.
At six metres high, a double-glazed curtain wall encloses the new top two floors of the building. Our structural team designed new floor plates using steelwork-concrete composite construction, creating a slim edge which helped to achieve the architectural vision for the facade of the building. Our Facade team’s design enabled the removal of the existing parapets on the heritage structure allowing the installation of full-height glazing on the middle two floors, maximising natural light into the internal spaces.
