Day 1 Networking Reception at Barangaroo South, Tower 1

International Tower 1 in Barangaroo South, one of Sydney’s most lauded commercial complexes, was the venue for Day One’s Networking Reception, hosted by Lendlease and sponsored by Schindler, which capped off an exciting first day of sessions, exhibitions, and tours. Introduced by Philip Vivian, Director, Bates Smart, the event offered guests the opportunity to hear from David Rolls, Development Director, Property, Lendlease and Thomas Oetterli, CEO, Schindler Group. Jeremy Teoh, General Manager, Commercial & Retail, Building, Lendlease, concluded the reception with a few brief remarks to prepare guests for another day of non-stop activity.

Rolls congratulated architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners for designing the project and working with Lendlease for some seven years “before dirt was turned. This was really the only part of the city that had an immediate context for expansion,” Rolls said. “It’s now home to more than 2,000 office workers and the residential portion is just getting started. We are committed to solving urban problems that extend beyond our site. We’re also working to improve the quality of workspaces, starting with our own offices as the experimenting ground.”

“I was thinking on the theme ‘Connecting the City,’” Oetterli said. “We are now in the so-called ‘Digital Age,’ where everyone is connected. When you ascended in the glass elevators here, it was all digitized, with destination control. We of course use digital technology to generate more uptime and increase the reliability factor. But we can also start to interact with passengers. Most people enter a lift, and they don’t know what to do. They to the back of the car and don’t want to look at anyone else – that’s 60 seconds or more of wasted time. So we are starting to offer more tailored, personalized interactions that can make elevator time productive. We’re not here to ‘digitize’ you, but to excite you with digitization.”