Opal Tower

Sydney
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    Metrics
Height 117 m / 384 ft
Floors 36
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Opal Tower

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

Opal Tower at Sydney Olympic Park, Australia Towers D

Name of Complex
A complex is a group of buildings which are designed and built as pieces of a greater development.

Australia Towers

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed

Completion

2018

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Australia

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Sydney

Address

98 Bennelong Parkway, Sydney Olympic Park

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

Residential

Structural Material
All-Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered an “all-steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

All-Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars and/or steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

All-Timber
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from timber. An all-timber structure may include the use of localized non-timber connections between timber elements. Note that a building of timber construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of timber beams is still considered an “all-timber” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. all-steel, all-concrete, all-timber), one on top of the other. For example, a Steel Over Concrete indicates an all-steel structural system located on top of an all-concrete structural system, with the opposite true of Concrete Over Steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used within a composite building’s primary structural elements.

All-Concrete

Official Website

Opal Tower

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

117 m / 384 ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
117 m / 384 ft
Occupied
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
114 m / 374 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

36

Floors Below Ground
The number of floors below ground should include all major floors located below the ground floor level.

3

# of Apartments
Number of Apartments refers to the total number of residential units (including both rental units and condominiums) contained within a particular building.

392

# of Parking Spaces
Number of Parking Spaces refers to the total number of car parking spaces contained within a particular building.

515

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

4

Tower GFA
Tower GFA refers to the total gross floor area within the tower footprint, not including adjoining podiums, connected buildings or other towers within the development.

41,811 m² / 450,050 ft²

Rankings

  • By Location
#
363
Tallest in Oceania

Construction Schedule

2014

Proposed

2015

Construction Start

2018

Completed

2018

Retrofit Start

2020

Retrofit End

Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Bates Smart
Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
WSP
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).
Formwork
Doka GmbH
Owner
Current
Sydney Olympic Park Authority
Developer
Ecove Group Pty Limited
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Bates Smart
Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
WSP
MEP Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Wood and Grieve Engineers
Project Manager

The CTBUH lists a project manager when a specific firm has been commissioned to oversee this aspect of a tall building’s design/construction. When the project management efforts are handled by the developer, main contract, or architect, this field will be omitted.
Sterling Project Solutions
Contractor
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
ICON CO
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
Certifier
McKenzie Group Consulting
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).
Formwork
Doka GmbH

Retrofit Companies Involved

Structural Engineer
Engineer of Record

The Engineer of Record takes the balance of the engineering effort not executed by the “Design Engineer,” typically responsible for construction documents, conforming to local codes, etc.
Cardno
Contractor
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
ICON CO

Research

30 October 2017

Shaping Australia’s Tall Tower Design And High Livability Standards

Guy Lake, Katie Rathbone, Philip Vivian & Kristen Whittle, Bates Smart

With nearly 90% of its population expected to live in its state-capital cities by 2053, Australia is on track to become one of the world’s...

 

Global News

02 July 2020

Tower Owners Face Insurance Bill in Sydney

Opal Tower residents have filed legal proceedings against the NSW state government to fix the “cracks of the building industry” after finding 500 new defects....

See more

Global News

02 July 2020

Tower Owners Face Insurance Bill in Sydney

Opal Tower residents have filed legal proceedings against the NSW state government to fix the “cracks of the building industry” after finding 500 new defects....

19 December 2019

Residents Return to Sydney Tower After Extensive Repairs

Opal Tower builder Icon has cleared residents to return to the Sydney apartment building, which was evacuated 12 months ago after cracking was discovered in...

29 August 2019

Sydney Tower’s “Provision for Defect” Fund Falls Short

Since the evacuation of Opal Tower at Sydney’s Olympic Park, Construction giant ICON claims it has spent AU$24 million (US$16.2 million), despite putting only AU$1...

01 March 2019

Report on Sydney’s Opal Tower Blames Structural Design, Construction Flaws for Cracks

The Opal Tower final report, made public on March 1, 2019 after a two-month investigation, found that critical hob beams in the residential tower were...

02 January 2019

Residents in 36-Story Sydney Tower Evacuated, Remain Stranded

The developer of a Sydney high-rise building which had to be evacuated on Christmas Eve says it has been “stunned” by structural defects which have...