Stainless is a key feature in the urban design and revamp of one of the Gold Coast's most iconic and vibrant tourist destinations.

The $25 million Surfers Foreshore Project was commissioned by the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) to redevelop the beachfront area between Laycock Street and View Avenue in Surfers Paradise.

Aimed at improving infrastructure and visitor recreation, the new promenade features new lifeguard towers, amenity blocks, beach shelters, picnic areas with barbeques, and increased pedestrian and disability access to the beach.

Managing Contractor Abigroup Contractors Pty Ltd appointed ASSDA member and Accredited Fabricator J&T Mechanical Installation to

Where Strength Meets Style

Innovation in zoo enclosure design is a key feature of the recently completed $7.5 million makeover of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

The project brief was to create a chimpanzee habitat akin to their native home that would encourage social interaction and allow the zoo’s primate keepers to manage animal husbandry and the group’s changing demographic. The enclosure’s transparency and the ability to withstand the chimpanzee’s remarkable strength and intelligence were essential.

ASSDA member Ronstan Tensile Architecture was contracted by the builder, the Lipman Group, to be the specialist contractor for the technical design

Stainless steel’s star has ascended in the public’s conscience as thousands of Westfield Sydney shoppers enjoy the world-class design and materials on show in its newest retail development.

Covering 103,000m2, the $1.2 billion Westfield Sydney development is bound by the Pitt Street Mall and Market and Castlereagh Streets in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. It integrates Westfield Centrepoint, the Centrepoint Convention Centre, Imperial Arcade and Skygarden, plus a new office tower at 85 Castlereagh Street and an extensively modified and refurbished tower at 100 Market Street.

While the size of the project is enormous, it’s the design that’s turning heads.

Stainless steels are now cheaper than ever, but there is still room to minimise costs (see Table 1), which will improve the bottom line for individual companies, projects and the industry as a whole.

Australia is a relatively 'small fish' in the global stainless industry and, without the benefit of local stainless steel production, loses some flexibility on product availability. Unless you're a very large consumer of stainless steel to a single specification or Standard, ordering to common specifications will reduce costs and increase availability of products.

Suppliers are likely to have products to common specifications. Ordering them reduces the

Kuala Lumpur's new international airport terminal will open within a month and travellers will be sheltered by a A$17 million stainless steel roof which has largely been developed by Australian expertise and innovation.

The roof profile of the contact piers and air bridges (60,000m² total area) had to satisfy a number of criteria, including rainwater runoff, resistance to wind uplift, and a smooth, painted appearance. The roof area comprises a composite system with an outer metal membrane of fully-welded stainless steel. Further complicating the design, the architect (MJAC) wanted to avoid valley gutters on the roof's curves.

Around 280

Sydney's recently redeveloped Chifley Square now pays tribute to its namesake in a dramatic, yet personable, manner - an 8m tall stainless steel sculpture of Ben Chifley towers over the square, forming part of City of Sydney's capital works program in the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Sydney artist Simeon Nelson designed 'Ben Chifley' and a glass and stainless steel wall on the site while working as part of the multi-disciplinary design team involved in the site's $3 million redevelopment. Hassell architects (Sydney) were given open guidelines for the design of the site, but two of the objectives

When millions around the world watch the Sydney Olympic Games this September, they will also be experiencing the best of Australian architecture, with particular emphasis on stainless steel.

Stadium Australia, located at Homebush Bay in Sydney's inner city in the centrepiece of the Olympic site. Here, events such as the opening and closing ceremonies and the track and field program will be played out. Closer examination of the sit reveals the use of stainless steel in a myriad of applications, both aesthetic and functional. Perhaps more importantly, the use of stainless steel helps meet the organiser's "green" commitment: to use

Sports fans trekking to Melbourne's Colonial Stadium will enter the ground via a 200 metre long, 20 metre wide bridge shrouded in stainless. 

The Bourke Street Pedestrian Bridge, which connects Spencer Street Station to the eastern entrance of the $460 million sporting arena, opened in March 2000, makes extensive use of stainless steel to stunning effect.

A 200 metre long canopy comprising 14 rolled cascading stainless steel sheets divided in sections by red coated curved steel antlers protects pedestrians queuing on the south side of the bridge. The antlers, made from carbon steel, provide lighting and primary support to the

Sixty tonnes of stainless steel has been exported to Hong Kong as part of an innovative Australian-designed and manufactured kit form, large span skylight project worth three quarters of a million dollars. 

The 42 gable trussed skylights and sub-frames in varying sizes up to four metres wide and eight metres long were installed in a $90 million dollar treatment plant commissioned by the Hong Kong Government.

Grade 316 stainless steel was used for the skylight's precision pre-cut sub-frame members, welded maintenance ladders, lntalok mechanism assemblies, special profiles, on sight assembly jigs, pivots and fixings.

The project specified that the skylights

Stainless steel spiral handrails provide a stunning support for climbers of Perth's new Bell Tower complex.

Grade 316 stainless steel tube was used to construct handrails for an internal spiral staircase and for an observation platform on the building's sixth floor.

170 metres of tube was used for the staircase, which was spiralled and fixed to the mild steel structure of the building. Washers and neoprene gaskets were used to separate the stainless steel from the mild steel, avoiding corrosion issues caused by dissimilar metal contact.

The handrails were fabricated by Tubelok Metals Australia in their Cannington (Western Australia) workshop

Sea World's latest attractions, polar bear cubs Lia and Lutik, have captured the public's attention since their arrival from Russia late last year. The one-year-old siblings join resident polar bears Kanook and Ping Ping, who have already given the park one of its most successful years since Polar Bear Shores was built in 2000.

The use of stainless steel in the construction of the polar bear enclosure contributes to giving park visitors a close look at the playful cubs and the adult bears. Large underwater viewing windows, supported by stainless steel frames, allow the public to watch the bears swimming

World Class and Australian Made

The Australian stainless steel industry is committed to providing high quality, durable products for the architecture industry.

Vee-cut technology is an example of precision fabrication catering to the demands of architects and designers.

Following the importation of a Japanese vee-cutting machine, Australian manufacturers now offer extremely accurate sheet metal folding, resulting in excellent optical features.

The Amada machine operated by Vee-Cut Australia in Sydney produces tight radius curves with precision, while hardly altering the surface tension of the stainless sheet. This produces minimal distortion even with the use of mirror finishes. The machine is capable

The superior strength of stainless steel has long made it the material of choice for prison toilet facilities. Innovative styling has now opened up a new market in public restrooms. Increasingly, venues are turning to stainless steel to make their facilities safer and reduce costs in the long term. 

Vandalism in public facilities is a widespread occurrence, with some pub and club owners forced to replace a toilet every few weeks. While the initial outlay may be higher for stainless fittings, the cost of replacing and installing a ceramic pan can be recouped after just one instance of vandalism. Unbreakable

The overwhelming response from the architecture community to our earlier article on precision folding of stainless steel sheet using vee-cutting technology has prompted a more in-depth look at the process. 

Thanks to vee-cut technology, stainless steel sheet can be formed into angles as precise as those obtained by extrusion. This technology is now being carried out in Sydney, allowing the local manufacture of a whole range of stainless steel architectural products. The technique is particularly suited to elements such as door fronts, window frames, shopfronts, showcases, elevator doors as well as all forms of cladding.

In a completely new method

Stainless Steel Mesh

Woven metal fabrics are a popular architectural product in Europe, where stainless steel mesh is used for a high-level finish in many internal and external settings, such as wall and ceiling panelling, space dividers, external cladding and facades.

Now Sydney firm Interspace Manufacturing Pty Ltd is making and installing woven stainless steel wire mesh screens using metal fabrics from iO Metal Fabrics Pty Ltd, a German firm with an Australian presence and a member of ASSDA.

ASSDA member Interspace has been designing and manufacturing store fittings and custom fixtures for displays and exhibitions since 1970. The firm

Hastings Caves, one of Tasmania’s major tourist attractions situated a scenic two hours’ drive south of Hobart, has received a major upgrade.

According to the Site Co-ordinator Keith Vanderstaay, the caves "have been reinvented with the completion of a state of the art, computer-controlled lighting system which will change the way everybody will see the cave."

New stainless steel handrails allow visitors to navigate the cave in safety, and are designed to last for generations, minimising the need for maintenance in the caves' sensitive environment.

Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service, as part of a safety review of structures used by

The Australian construction and food processing sectors can specify stainless steel tube in large sizes with confidence in its quality and timely delivery, now that local production has commenced at a Victorian plant.

Manufacturing by an Australian firm will also make it easier for specificiers to communicate their special requirements.

Stainless Tube Mills' special purpose factory in Melbourne’s outer east is producing longitudinally welded tube in diameters up to 300mm and wall thicknesses up to 8mm – the largest seamwelded stainless steel tube available in Australia. Tube in this size range has always been imported.

The recently commissioned draw mill,

Melbourne's public life is populated with unique, strong and take-as-you-find personalities. Its culture – from high to mass – is influenced by figures like Jeff Kennett and Sam Newman, who shape Melbourne's view of itself and its environment.

While the former Premier's impact on the Victorian capital has been comprehensive, the refurbishment of Brighton Sea Baths as an upscale nightspot part-owned by Mr Newman has contributed a smaller scale landmark which is just as likely to provide visitors (male ones, anyway) with a memorable impression of the city.

The retired Geelong player and AFL Footy Show co-host, well-known in Melbourne

Pressed stainless steel cladding has been used to spectacular effect on the Dame Roma Mitchell Arts Building of Adelaide Institute of TAFE, the training ground for many of Australia’s future performing and visual artists.

The originality of the design complements the creative nature of the activities housed in the building, situated on the edge of Adelaide’s Light Square.

Completed in December 2001, the four-storey complex comprises an art gallery, basement workshop facilities for ceramics and sculpture, two theatre spaces, and various studios and workshops.

Stainless steel fulfils a dual function. Not only does it provide aesthetic appeal, the pressed surface

A Style Statement in Stainless

The transformation of Sydney's Walsh Bay from derelict wharves and sheds into a prestigious residential complex, complete with cultural, retail and commercial facilities, provides a stage for Australian innovation in design and technology, including some of the finest examples of stainless steel structural and architectural applications.

Located amid Sydney's landmarks -the Opera House, Circular Quay, The Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge -the Walsh Bay Precinct is said to be "the most significant urban renewal of heritage Sydney to be undertaken for many years."

According to developers Walsh Bay Partnership (WBP), a joint venture project between