Murdoch Square
Project overview
Project: Murdoch Square
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Project works: Interior walls, doors, trims, windows and ceiling
Products: Dulux paints, Dulux Acratex®, Dulux Protective Coatings and EMER.
Project Manager: Asset Project Management
Development Manager: Hesperia
Architect: Hassell
Builder: Multiplex
Applicator: Levent Painting
Year: 2024
Background
Situated south of Perth’s CBD, the new circa $450 million Murdoch Square is an expansive mixed-use development featuring a hotel, aged care, specialist medical suites, commercial offices, residential apartments, mental health facility, WA’s first ‘medihotel’ and a link bridge to the existing Fiona Stanley Hospital. As a commercial builder committed to sustainable practices, Multiplex partnered with Dulux and other suppliers to ensure the facility was on track to achieve a 5 Star Green Star rating.
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) will evaluate the project under the Legacy Green Star Design & As Built v1.2 rating tool, which assesses sustainability outcomes across nine categories from the design and construction of new buildings. Dulux assisted with credits in the Indoor environment quality (IEQ) category thanks to the use of very low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) paints such as Dulux envirO₂™, that enhance the comfort and wellbeing of occupants. Multiplex also showcased innovative solutions through the adoption of the Dulux Envirosolutions recovery program to improve waste management recycling processes by focusing on specific materials and their ongoing lifecycle.
The challenge
With over 80,000sqm of gross floor area across five buildings, the volume of coatings was significant, with over 22,500 litres of paint required throughout the development’s interiors. This represented an opportunity to make a positive environmental impact by ensuring low VOC products were applied.
Hesperia and Multiplex were focused on environmental sustainability throughout this project, so choosing low VOC paints was the main consideration in the specification process.
The solution
Multiplex quickly identified the multiple benefits of this sustainability initiative, which aims to reduce single-use plastics by collecting and recycling 15L plastic paint buckets, lids and tear strips and manufacturing them into recycled, Australian-made paint roller trays, stirrers or buckets.
A designated Envirosolutions storage box was installed on site which enabled the painting contractor, Levent Painting to dispose of the empty paint pails safely and securely to eliminate any issues with misuse or loss of buckets.
"We scanned the buckets coming in, and we scanned the buckets going out," Rana explains. “Overall, we collected 616 buckets, which represents 14.1 cubic metres saved from landfill, and $3,100 saving in waste disposal costs. “Multiplex could clearly demonstrate the volume of plastic they saved from landfill, showing the impact of the program in a tangible way."
Sustainability is everyone’s business
Everything we do has an impact on people and our planet. Whether it’s choosing a safer paint, or recycling, every little bit makes a difference. At Dulux, our vision is to be the market leader in sustainability. From our products and our operations, we aim to minimise our environmental footprint in everything we do. Dulux Envirosolutions is a free (and unique) sustainability initiative for everyone.
MediHotel interiors in low VOC products
Project outcomes
Securing Green Star Building certification Louise Reeve-Fowkes, Design Coordinator at Multiplex, worked closely with Rana to ensure all objectives were met as the project progressed.
“The specification of Dulux envirO₂™ and the adoption of the Envirosolutions program had significant impact in our ability to target the 5 Star Green Star rating on this project. We enjoyed working in partnership with the Dulux team and our subcontractor Levent on this sustainability initiative, with such a fantastic outcome shown through our bucket return count.”
Louise Reeve-Fowkes, Design Coordinator, Multiplex
“The team at Multiplex are passionate, engaged and fantastic to work with. We were all focused on the same goal, and we worked together to achieve it.”
Rana Schuller, Dulux Specification Consultant, Western Australia
Multiplex has since promoted the success of this project helping to educate the wider building industry on the impact and benefits of the Envirosolutions program.
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