Story

The new Embassy of Australia, designed by Bates Smart in association with KCCT, embodies the spirit of Australia through references to the continent’s distinctive geography, with bright and clear natural light and open skies, warm materiality, and vast scale — creating a symbol of Australia designed to be both welcoming and enduring. Materiality and light play an important role in the new structure, with the appearance of the façade’s angled copper cladding and glazing changing dynamically throughout the day. At ground floor level, a large open public space announces itself as the grand entry into the building looking back towards the White House. This space leads guests into a sequence of finely crafted open, exhibition gallery and function spaces used for ceremonial and public events. Surrounding the atrium space on the upper levels is a series of flexible working areas, creating a highly contemporary, open workspace setting. The building earned LEED Gold Certification and a Green Star rating through innovative sustainable solutions, including a thermally efficient façade, a green roof with an extensive photovoltaic array, expansive use of natural light and the latest building services technologies. The environmental focus demonstrates Australia’s global leadership in sustainability. The Embassy also showcases the best in Australian design and materials. The Commonwealth; Bates Smart, the design architect from Australia; KCCT, the local architect of record; and Clark, delivered on these details through close collaboration. The team’s ability to jointly achieve the Embassy’s vision is exemplified by the appearance of the facade’s copper panels. Meeting as a team with Bates Smart and a German supplier (across three time zones), Clark researched finish options and created multiple visual mockups for review, ultimately leading to the choice of raw natural copper panels for the exterior, sealed to mitigate the effects of oxidation. This solution delivered a consistent and desired appearance across the facade while also meeting procurement milestones to keep the project on schedule. Timely turn-over was a key driver for the Embassy, since its personnel needed to occupy the new structure before its lease on temporary space expired. Likewise, the interior contained extensive wood veneer from the Eucalyptus pilularis tree, found in Australia. Sourcing the veneer necessitated coordination across multiple subcontractors and visits to several suppliers in order to achieve matching consistency and quality throughout. Construction required a highly complicated support-of-excavation system, including 65 underpinning pits and the use of portions of the existing foundation walls as temporary shoring for the excavation of an additional below-grade level. The team also addressed the challenge of undocumented existing conditions, after demolishing the existing embassy on site, and the need to protect a 65-year-old adjacent historic church.