Daily Highlights – Day 1, Sydney | CTBUH 2017 Conference

The VIP Photo took place on the morning of the 30th before the day’s sessions kicked off. From left to right (Bottom Row):
Yinju Li, Parkland Real Estate Development; Matthew Kuhn, Frasers Property; Matthew Khoo, ICD Property; David Rolls, Lendlease; Monica Barone, City of Sydney; Carl Schibrowski, Brookfield; Anthony Henry, Macquarie Bank; Mark Tait, Investa Property; Chris Kakoufas, Cbus Property; Le Thi Yen, Lavenue Investment Corp.
(Top Row) Jianbo Hu, Ping An Real Estate; Irene Wai, Sun Hung Kai Properties; Victor Meakens, Hongkong Land Ltd.; Raymond Cheah Ho Chee, UEM Sunrise; Antony Wood, CTBUH; Steve Watts, CTBUH/alinea Consulting; David Malott, CTBUH/AI.; Joseph Chou, Taipei Financial Center Corp.; De Ming (Derry) Yu; New World China Ltd.; Albert Chan, Shui On Land; Simon Healy, Mirvac Developments

Anthony Roberts, Minister for Planning, Housing and Special Minister of State, New South Wales, sets the context for the coming program.

The audience intently listens to Anthony Roberts’ opening address.

Kim Nielsen, Founder, Principal and Creative Director, 3XN, outlines the design principles and challenges of the Quay Quarter Tower, Sydney.

David Malott, CTBUH Chairman, provides welcoming words in the opening plenary.

Antony Wood, CTBUH Executive Director, remarks upon the unprecedented 26% women panelists, speakers and session chairs in the 2017 conference – “not ‘equity’, but much better than ever before” in the history of CTBUH conferences.

Conference Co-Chair Philip Vivian, Director, Bates Smart, introduces the opening plenary speakers.

Monica Barone, CEO, City of Sydney, describes the Sustainable Sydney 2030 Plan as it applies to tall buildings in the local context.

Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio and Senior Executive Partner, Foster + Partners, enlightens the audience on plans for Circular Quay Tower, which will become Sydney’s next tallest office building.

Ken Shuttleworth, Founding Partner, Make, explains how the Wynyard Place project will help connect vital quadrants of the Sydney CBD with public transport and pedestrian rights-of-way.

Participants listen to the opening plenary speakers.

Tim Williams, CEO, Committee for Sydney and Principal, Arup, explains how cities have been under-acknowledged in Federal-level planning, and how that is about to change.

Caroline Stalker, Australasian Design Director (Urban), Arup, chairs the Urban Policy session.

Helen Lochhead, Dean, Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, discusses the role of design competitions in shaping Sydney’s public realm.

Chris Wilkinson, Principal and Founding Director, WilkinsonEyre, talks about how urban policy toward tall buildings should assess how they define the skyline and impact the street.

Tom Dixon, Creative Director, Tom Dixon/Design Research Studio, talks about his firm’s approach to bringing a quality user experience to the project.

Robert Saidman, Principal, Arup, showcases the sustainable design strategies involved in the “upcycling” of Quay Quarter Tower from a 1970s standard to a 21st-century level.

Eamon Waterford, Director of Policy, Committee for Sydney, addresses the city’s global competitiveness.

Natalie Slessor, General Manager of Workplace and Change, Lendlease Corporation, explains how her company has used advanced data collection and analysis techniques to provide a better workplace.

Laurane de Gendre, Transport Planner, AECOM, articulates a conceptual framework for better utilization of urban resources in a “24-hour city.”

Douglas Voigt, Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, explores challenges and a design strategy for New South Wales, set to grow to add 2.7 million people by 2036.

Joshua Prince-Ramus, Founding Principal, REX Architecture, examines the concept of “architectural agency” as applied to tall buildings and the cities they inhabit and define.

Chris Johnson, CEO, Urban Taskforce, asks a question during the session “Density and Urbanity in the Sydney Context.”

Fred Clarke, Senior Design Principal, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, relates the experience of designing the “Grand Central of the West” – the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco.

Christian Schulz, Chief Operating Officer, Schindler, describes the Internet of Elevators and Escalators, a platform for improving vertical transportation uptime and people flow in buildings.

Peter Halliday, Global Head, Building Performance and Sustainability, Siemens Building Technology, uncovers best practices related to connecting buildings with their operators, occupants, and cities.

Johanna Trickett, ESD Consultant, Aurecon, advises on the applicability of the PassivHaus standard to Australia’s tall building market.

Eric Parry, Founder and Principal, Eric Parry Architects, analyzes the urban design strategies adopted by municipal authorities with regard to tall buildings.

Peter Hodgins, AP Watson IoT EAM Executive, IBM Corp., extolls the future of smart buildings in the “cognitive era.”

The Session 3F panel assembles, ready to discuss the peculiarities of density and urbanity in greater Sydney: (left to right) Graham Jahn, Director of City Planning, Development & Transport, City of Sydney; Kim Nielsen, Founder, Principal & Creative Director, 3XN; Tanya Vincent, Principal Manager, Urban Design, Transport for NSW; and Ken McBryde, Founding Director, Sydney Architecture Studio;

Richard Palmer, Director, Sustainability, WSP Group, chairs the discussion.

Delegates in Session 2H, “The Tall Australian Office Building: A Conversation.”

Philip Vivian, Director, Bates Smart, details the cases of two tall timber office buildings his firm has designed.

Thomas Robinson, Founder/Principal, LEVER Architecture, charts the progress of Framework, set to be the tallest all-timber building in the Americas.

Shu-Hsin Soong, Technical Director and Education Sector Leader, AECOM, conveys the lessons learned in delivering vertical schools.

Andrew Cortese, Partner, Grimshaw Architects, details the joining of two schools into one vertical learning community.

Authors, contributors and peer reviewers of Outrigger Design for High-Rise Buildings, Performance-Based Seismic Design for Tall Buildings, The Space Between: Urban Places, Public Spaces & Tall Buildings, and Downtown High-Rise vs. Suburban Low-Rise Living posed for a photo commemorating the launch of the publications.

The stunning view of Darling Harbour and the Barangaroo district, as seen from the International Towers Networking Reception, kindly hosted by Lendlease and sponsored by Schindler.

Delegates let loose and reflect on the first day of programming at the International Towers, Barangaroo South networking reception.

The view to the Sydney CBD from the International Towers 1 reception space.

Delegates let loose and reflect on the first day of programming at the International Towers, Barangaroo South networking reception.

Detail view of the solar shading fins on the side of International Towers 1.

View through the louver system to the networking reception space at International Towers 1, Barangaroo South.

Philip Vivian, Director, Bates Smart and Local Conference Steering Committee Co-Chair, welcomes guests to the Day One reception at International Towers, Barangaroo South.

David Rolls, Development Director, Property, Lendlease gives the host’s welcome to guests at the Day One Reception.

Thomas Oetterli, CEO, Schindler, delivers the sponsor’s message at the Day One Reception, International Towers, Barangaroo South.

Jeremy Teoh, Commercial & Retail, Building, Lendlease, closes the evening with some words of thanks to those in attendance.

Delegates let loose and reflect on the first day of programming at the International Towers, Barangaroo South networking reception.

International Towers, Barangaroo South, the site of the Day 1 Networking Reception, kindly hosted by Lendlease and sponsored by Schindler.

Scenes from the Day