The use of Carl Stahl X-Tend® stainless steel tensile mesh on the southern face of the Sydney International Airport Multi-Storey Carpark, represents the first tensile wire mesh façade application in the Southern Hemisphere. Designed and installed by Ronstan, one of Australia’s leading specialist tensile contractors, the 1500m² mesh fabric is tensioned across the 71m, 8 storey façade to fully enclose the southern side of the structure in one seamless mesh piece.
Secured at all façade perimeters with stainless cables and clamped at each slab level, the stainless steel wire mesh provides a highly aesthetic yet, unobtrusive structural barrier for fall protection. “Typically, the tensile mesh has a 95% open area’… said Ronstan Tensile Architecture’s General Manager, Rowan Murray.
“Aside from the transparency, this allows a high flow rate of air and water through the structure enabling the structure to be classed as an ‘open deck’ carpark. This has a highly favorable effect on the need for expensive infrastructure such as ventilation and fire sprinkler systems”, said Mr Murray.
“We see this ‘open deck’ classification being a popular avenue for the developers of multi-storey carpark structures in the future. Having addressed all codes and regulations through the design and installation process for Abigroup Contractors and The Townsend Group, we are well positioned to apply the same solution on the next carpark” Mr Murray said.
