Aquatic Centre Hypothetical - Sydney

The town of Pax in regional NSW has committed to build a new aquatic centre. Pax is a town of 60,000 people and the new Splash Aquatic Centre will be the hub of the town. The pool committee in Pax has committed to build the most energy efficient aquatic centre in Australia. This hypothetical is going to design their centre in one day, with input from council staff, centre managers, engineers and architects who are at the cutting edge of the design of these centres in Australia, NZ and the UK. Information gathered during the event will be used to produce a comprehensive guide for councils, engineers and architects who are going to build high performing aquatic centres. The event is divided into 4 sessions.

SESSIONS

Session 1 - Preparing your organisation for a new aquatic centre or upgrade of an existing one

This session will dive into the essentials that a new build or upgrade should consider before anyone is engaged. What are the essential steps guardrails that need to be put in place to ensure that the project stays on track and delivers what is promised.
Ian Garradd - North Sydney Council
Laura Carey - Inner West Council
Phillip Sorbello - Cumberland City Council
Scott Smith - Technical Director - Sustainable Buildings, BECA

Session 2 - What are the elements of the ultimate aquatic centre?

Experienced centre operators and administrators work through the elements that should be included, what size they should be and what outcomes are expected. These decisions form the basis of the centre design for sections 3 and 4.

Simon Duck - Senior Manager, Sport and Recreation at Inner West Council
Peter West - Property Manager at The Kings School, Sydney
Brooke Atkins - Larcan Consultancy

LUNCH

Session 3 - Engineering a Low Energy Aquatic Centre

Engineering for high efficiency is critical for a Low Energy Aquatic Centre. To quote the latest IPCC report- "Put Climate Change at the heart of all decision-making". If we are serious about this in aquatic centres, that means we need to work out the engineering first, before we get too involved with the shell of the building. This session involves the design of the most efficient energy system possible- heating, cooling, DHW, heat recovery, thermal storage, and electrical storage. The key elements of these designs are then incorporated into the final building design.

Stephen Platt - Engineering Lead for the St Sidwell's Aquatic Centre, Exeter UK, ARUP Manchester UK
Nick Yannakis - Aquatics Lead, BECA Australia
Alexander Hespe - Associate | Sustainable Buildings, Arup
Rick Edwards - Founder and Director, Environmental Technology Solutions

Session 4 - designing the most energy efficient aquatic centre in Australia

The architects involved in this session have one thing in common; they have been involved in the design of high efficiency buildings in Australia and have completed these projects successfully. It is one thing to talk about these designs but having a completed building to talk about is something else. Taking the specifications provided by the presenters in the previous sessions the architects will come up with a design that uses less energy and is user friendly.

Michael Cook - Principal, Hunt Architects Sydney
Zak Irfan, Technical Lead, Hunt Architects, Sydney
Tammy Beck - Williams Ross Australia
Stephen Maxwell - Williams Ross Australia
Andy Marlow - Architect and certified Passivhaus designer, Director at Envirotecture - Passivhaus Design and Construct

PRESENTER BIOS

Laura Carey
Sustainability Officer Inner West Council - EMS, Projects & Reporting
Laura works for Inner West Council’s Corporate Sustainability team, implementing its ambitious Climate and Renewables Strategy and 2025 Carbon Neutral target. This role includes carbon accounting and reporting, asset electrification planning, and embedding sustainable design in Council buildings. Laura is currently part of the project working group tasked with upgrading two of the Inner West’s large Aquatic Centres to fully electric. Laura has a background in Law and Environmental Science and has worked in Local Government since 2015.

Ian Garradd
Sustainability Project Officer at North Sydney Council
Ian has a background in sustainable design science, energy efficiency & energy auditing
and teaching sustainability. This helps with understanding the opportunities for upgrades & the necessity of electrification. Ian will reflect on his experiences with electrification of Council properties & particularly the feasibility of changing Council-owned commercial cafes which are traditionally heavy users of gas.

Phillip Sorbello
Manager Recreational Assets, Cumberland City Council
Phillip has over 30 years’ experience in the facilities management, construction and the aquatics industry in the education and councils sectors. He has been directly involved in the construction, design and management of Swimming centres and buildings, including implementation of cost effective energy management solutions. He has a keen interest in energy management and developing designs that minimise the building utility and maintenance cost over the life of the service and ensuring the layout of plant design allows for accessible preventative and reactive maintenance. Cumberland Council has modernised two of their 5 swimming centres and are now commencing designs for another two Swimming centres.

Scott Smith
Technical Director - Sustainable Buildings, BECA
Scott is a sustainable buildings engineer who specialises in translating client sustainability and climate change commitments into the design of building infrastructure, architecture, structures, and systems. Scott has extensive experience in sustainability certification, building physics, carbon analysis, mechanical engineering, and climate vulnerability assessments. Scott helps clients identify their key sustainability drivers and focuses design teams on the best opportunities. Scott is also the principle author of New Zealand's Property and Construction Sector climate scenarios which help organisations understand their climate futures and decarbonisation trajectories over the next 70 years.

Peter West
Facilities Manager, The King’s School
Peter has over 24 years’ experience in facilities management, project management and construction in the education sector. He has been involved in the project working groups for the design, construction and management of many projects including Sports Centre. Peter is currently part of the project working group tasked with implementing a school master plan including a new Aquatic Centre. He has a keen interest in ensuring designs are cost effective and energy efficient.

Simon Duck
Senior Manager Aquatics and Recreation, Inner West Council
Simon originally completed a degree in the field of Sports Studies including a focus on sports management /marketing and has worked in the Aquatics, Health Fitness and Leisure Industry for 30 years. During this time, Simon has worked for private companies managing Leisure facilities via contract and directly for local government within Council settings. This includes managing over 20 Aquatics and Leisure Centres as stand-alone sites or multi-site operations as part of a region. Financial modelling, public tendering and operation of Aquatics and Leisure facilities have been key elements of Simon's management experience as well having worked on the refurbishment, redevelopment and operational launch of 7 Aquatics and Leisure Centres.

Simon has recently worked on the design, project management and operational management of the Ashfield Aquatic Centre, the Dawn Fraser Baths and is currently working on the commencement of the masterplan for the refurbishment of the Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre due to be delivered by the Inner West Council in 2027. Simon’s role currently encompasses the management of approx. 500 staff across 5 Aquatic facilities directly managed by the Inner West Council and 2 Recreation facilities which are outsourced via contract management arrangements.

Brooke Atkins
Executive Director at LARCAN consultancy
Brooke has over 20 years experience in the community and recreation industries. Having held executive roles in the NFP, NGO and Local Government settings, Brooke has a unique lens on the industry undertaking these roles in a variety of organisational contexts and locations including NSW, Northern Territory, ACT and Victoria. Brooke has extensive experience in leadership of large and diverse teams, stakeholder engagement,
organisational strategy, business administration and management. Brooke has a passion for driving holistic health outcomes and improved connectivity for all communities. Brooke holds an MBA majoring in Strategic Management and Sports Management and is also a Board Director at Aquatics and Recreation Industry NSW.

Nick Yannakis
Technical Director and Business Director of Aquatics, BECA
Nick has recently moved to BECA. It was in the early stages of Nick’s career that he identified a need for more efficient aquatic engineering services in New Zealand. Nick has since directed his career toward bettering the design and functionality of many aquatic and recreational complexes.

Nick’s point of difference over competitors is his in-depth knowledge and understanding of the principal drivers in aquatic facilities. The variables involved in such facilities are different to that of a typical building. In short, aquatic facilities are energy intensive buildings that are made even more complex by the large, chlorinated bodies of heated water. Understanding the key energy drivers in not only in the design of the facilities but also operating them has become a passion. Nick’s knowledge has become invaluable to his clients and to many other industry leaders, who regularly employ him on a consultant basis knowing that his aquatic expertise is unrivalled.

It has been this aquatic knowledge that has helped Nick and his team help numerous councils throughout New Zealand to create decarbonisation strategies across their network of facilities as well as understand and improve systems within existing facilities. The team has recently moved to BECA to bring their knowledge and skill set into the Australian market already working with a number of councils.

Stephen Platt
MEP Engineering, Associate at ARUP, Manchester UK
Stephen leads the Building Engineering Services team in Arup's Liverpool office, UK. He has 20 years’ experience in project management, design and supervision of engineering services for a wide variety of new build and refurbishment projects.

Stephen has particular specialisms in swimming pool design and in science laboratory and engineering facilities. He is regularly called upon to provide technical support and peer review for high profile swimming and leisure facilities in the UK and globally, and recently led the multi-disciplinary engineering design for the UK's first Passivhaus Leisure Centre, St Sidwell's Point.

https://www.exeterleisure.com/...

Stephen has led the engineering design for a number of high profile laboratory schemes in the UK, including the mechanical design for a new £350m Engineering Campus Development in Manchester, one of the single largest construction projects undertaken by any higher education institution in the UK. Issues of process energy consumption, corrosion, materials selection, user experience and controls integration are among the many common topics in which Stephen is able to bring together best practice from across these two diverse building typologies.

In 2014, Stephen took a three month leave of absence from Arup to work in a Dalit community in rural Nepal to develop a new drinking water supply system. He has since returned to the country to assist Arup's work on a similar water supply scheme which also utilised Stephen's water treatment experience gained from his work in the swimming pools sector.

Alexander Hespe
Associate | Sustainable Buildings, Arup
Alex is a mechanical engineer focussed on resource efficiency and passive design in the built environment. He has a broad range of background experience including automotive design, structural dynamics, pure research and building services.

Since joining Arup in early 2008, Alex has been primarily focussed on the design and development of resource saving features in both building and infrastructure design. He has also worked in concept development, master planning and peer review. Employed by Arup in Sydney initially, Alex moved to San Francisco on assignment for two years working on numerous building projects for large clients in Silicon Valley. Alex then relocated to Singapore for a nine month assignment before returning to the Sydney office in 2013. Through these assignments, Alex has developed a unique appreciation for working in different countries and cultures.

Rick Edwards
Founder and Director, Environmental Technology Solutions
Rick Edwards is the founder and director of Environmental Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, a company that specialises in designing, manufacturing, supplying, and installing complete systems and unique technology solutions in compliance, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. With a background in Mechanical Engineering and years of practical experience in Technical Products, Emissions Treatment Systems, and power generation, Rick's core skills are thinking differently around scenarios and proposing potential solutions that make sense to all parties on a project.

Rick's passion for innovation, energy efficiency, and the environment has helped ETS deliver complex project outcomes embracing the latest available technologies. Over the last 18 years, Rick has been a leader in the development and implementation of emerging thermal storage and energy recovery systems for Australia and South East Asia. The ETS mission is to innovate for true sustainability, creating whole-of-life solutions that encompass make, use, recycle, and reinvent. Their collaborative approach, deep industry knowledge, and valued technology and financial partners have enabled ETS to deliver projects that provide innovative business solutions that deliver on their clients' goals and more.

Tammy Beck, Executive Director, Williams Ross Architects
Tammy joined WRA in 2004 becoming Executive Director in 2020. Tammy has exceptional communication, consultation and analytic skills, and a finely honed design sense. She leads Design Review and people management at WRA and drives our management excellence.

She is passionate about community facilities including aquatic, sport and urban design projects, specialising in pre-design briefing, master planning and concept design phases. Her passion for community and stakeholder engagement leads to people-focussed and place-based design outcomes.

Recent experience includes delivering the Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre with WRA Director Stephen Maxwell. Tammy’s passion for social sustainability and understanding of social needs enabled Council to deliver on their aspiration for an aquatic centre as a preventative health Community Hub. BAWC has become an exemplar model for achieving high environmental and social sustainability outcomes.

Stephen Maxwell, Director, Williams Ross Architects
Steve joined WRA in 2001 after 15 years in the construction industry. He became a Director in 2018, manages CAD, BIM and IT systems and is responsible for design development, contract documentation and contract administration on a wide range of projects for WRA. An excellent communicator and perceptive thinker, he creates productive working relationships with all project participants. Steve’s expertise in three-dimensional modelling, documentation and BIM systems as applied to construction projects is critical to the successful delivery of WRA's most
complex projects.

Recent experience includes delivering the Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre with WRA Director Tammy Beck. Stephen was intimately involved in the design and construction outcomes required to deliver Australia’s first 6-star Green Star aquatic centre. He is building on this experience with subsequent centres and is passionate about achieving more sustainable aquatic outcomes balanced with operational excellence.

Michael Cook
Principal, Hunt Architects, Sydney
Michael has over 15 years experience in the design, documentation and construction delivery of both public and private aquatic projects. A Principal and senior member of Hunt's Studio team, Michael has worked in Singapore, USA and Australia on a broad range of unique projects, with his more recent focus being on aquatic sporting and leisure, correctional and justice, and complex industrial projects.

Michael is passionate about seeking design solutions that go beyond the business-as-usual mentality, particularly when this comes to the energy efficiency and sustainability aspects of the built environment. Michael has a keen understanding of the drivers that deliver sustainable outcomes for aquatic centres as evidenced by the energy efficiencies and extremely low Energy Usage Intensity (EUI) value established with the Fit2Swim Swim School in Maroubra, Sydney; currently the lowest measured energy usage of an aquatic facility in Australia. Michael has been instrumental in the development of an ESD matrix for Paul Sadler Swimland centres in Victoria that has won awards in the Aquatics Industry.

Michael’s understanding of building systems and performance, together with the knowledge base of Hunt Architects 50+ year history allows for the development of retrofit strategies to improve the performance of building envelopes.

Zak Irfan
Technical Lead, Hunt Architects, Sydney
Since graduating from the University of Technology, Sydney, Zak has been mentored by Michael Cook in the art and technology of high-efficiency aquatic centres. Instrumental in the delivery of Fit2Swim Swim School, Zak has developed expertise in the design, documentation, and delivery of high-performance centres. Zak has continued to hone his skills with the ongoing program of sustainability upgrades to Paul Sadler Swimland including Carrum Downs (winner of the ASSA Sustainability Award), Narre Warren, Hoppers Crossing, and Parkwood Green. Zak is currently working on energy efficient aquatic and sporting centres for the Geelong Sports Hub and Amberlee Holiday Park. Utilizing 'waste' energy and energy recovery systems these projects simultaneously heat and cool zones of the building depending on their function to target an EUI (Energy Usage Intensity) that exceeds the outstanding results Hunt Architects achieved for Fit2Swim.

Zak enjoys the challenge of design and documentation of these complex building types and draws upon his industrial and health background to draw in technical knowledge of specialised plant & equipment; hygiene; and robust material suitability.

Andy Marlow
Director at Envirotecture and Passivhaus Design & Construct
Andy holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Architecture, is a certified Passive House Designer and has extensive experience in sustainable design at a variety of scales. He has led master planning projects, been involved in several successful competitions including the Bathurst Sustainable Lifestyle House, and led the materials research for Australia’s first (almost) certified Living Building under the arduous Living Building Challenge – the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre at the University of Wollongong. Andy has previously been a Board Member of the Australian Passive House Association, Co-Chair of the Australian Institute of Architects NSW Sustainability Committee and sat on the Property Council of Australia NSW Sustainability Committee and the Green Building Council of Australia NSW Industry Group.

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