Metalloids

Two fields of towers are planted in an undulating landscape of hills and valleys, pools and rivers, caves and canyons. This is a meaningful and experiential landscape on a human scale, a place to be explored.

Verticality• PVs• Pumped hydro

energy storage• Solar chimney

natural ventilation

• Evaporative cooling towers

Grounded• Ground source

heat pumps• Radiant systems• Shade• Biophilia• Mist• Rainwater

storage• Flood

attenuation

Undercrofts create shade and shelter for gatherings, cafe and informal activation

Hills, valleys and lookouts

Placemaking at human scale

PV canopy

Groundsourceheatpump

Rainwater collection

Discovery of a cave, step out of the daylight

Green roof

Accessible

Access

Vista

Solar chimney natural ventilation

Mist

Towers speak to the skyline

Innovative passive design strategies for wellbeing and comfort, to encourage people to linger, relax and socialise

Multifunctional designThe structural mast supports lightweight shells forming the clouds. The central structural tube can also serve for rainwater collection and as a solar chimney to drive passive ventilation.

In the skyline, the clusters of stones become clouds in the valley. By day, the rocks are visibly planted, mined and fractured, balanced and engineered.

By night, they float, dematerialised. Seen across the city, from the freeway, from an airplane, from a satellite, they are scale-less and awesome.

This work foregrounds the physicalities of digital technologies. Come here to feel the weight of the weightless. Touch the materiality of the immaterial.

Human stories will unfold amongst this grove of towers. New friendships. Playful games. Unexpected reflections, both physical and thoughtful. Shared connections and vulnerabilities.

Look down to the earth for resources, for roots. Look up to the clouds to feel connected, to feel opportunity.

This is a place to reconnect our physical and digital lives for the wellbeing of our bodies, our communities and our planet.

Reducing embodied carbon• Recycled steel• Recycled aluminium• Rammed earth• Local suppliers and contractors• Zero waste in construction

Circular economy principles• Recycled and recyclable • Design for future disassembly• Avoid chemical adhesives

• Activation• Community• Biophilia

• Green roof• Biodiversity

• Solar chimney drives ventilation

• Solar PVs• Micro

pumped hydro energy storage

• Ground source heat pump heating and cooling

• Storm water management

• Protect ecosystems

• Shade• Mist

• Access• Inclusion

Holistic sustainability• Social• Environmental• Economic• Whole life

net zero carbon

• Rainwater collection

Canyon and caveThe canyon is a wide route which creates a focused path through to the river. It can host events, markets and performances, overlooked from the hills either side. Walking through the canyon offers a different experience of the towers, including the cave under one of the towers.

CavernThe towers meet the ground in different ways, rewarding exploration of the site, encouraging new perspectives. The cavern offers a view into the ground, appreciating the negative space of the rocks above.

Metalloids