6 Brindabella Circuit

Located adjacent to Canberra Airport within the award-winning Brindabella Business Park, 6 Brindabella Circuit comprises two commercial office buildings of approximately 10,000 m² each and forms part of one of Australia’s greenest business precincts. Designed by Bates Smart, the project challenged the conventional business park model with a vision to create a ‘social heart’ that humanises and urbanises the workplace environment. The two buildings are arranged around a landscaped plaza and unified by a sweeping canopy that gives the development a distinctive civic presence.

Atelier Ten provided sustainability leadership throughout the project, developing the environmental strategy and performance framework for an all-electric, highly energy-efficient workplace. The team delivered sustainability visioning and building physics consultancy, supporting ambitious targets including a 5 Star Green Star rating, a 5-Star NABERS Energy target and WELL Core Gold Certification.

During schematic design, Atelier Ten undertook detailed energy and water analysis and prepared the project’s ESD Specification. This translated the sustainability ambitions into measurable requirements for the wider consultant and delivery teams, covering energy, water, indoor environmental quality, materials and operational performance. The team aligned the rating frameworks with design decisions and the project’s longer-term performance objectives. Atelier Ten’s modelling supported the project’s NABERS Energy pathway and informed the transition to an all-electric system which utilises reverse-cycle chillers for heating and cooling.

Working with the design team, Atelier Ten ensured the large canopy optimised daylight access to the plaza and surrounding workplaces. The team assessed roof transparency, edge openings, operable elements, louvres and vertical offsets to understand how daylight could reach the floorplates while retaining the continuous roof form.

The resilience strategy addressed extreme heat, intense rainfall, bushfire smoke and utility disruption. Daylit egress routes, a thermally stable envelope, shaded public areas and closeable outdoor-air dampers were considered alongside future-ready energy, water and stormwater options. Together, these measures helped the client and design team test how the buildings could support safe occupation and business continuity during disruption while retaining flexibility for future adaptation.

To prepare for occupancy, Atelier Ten translated the energy model into operational requirements governing tenancy lighting and equipment loads, after-hours air conditioning, temperature settings, supplementary systems, maintenance and building controls. This helped carry the design intent into leasing, fitout and day-to-day operation.

The completed development achieved a 5 Star Green Star Design & As Built rating and WELL Core Gold Certification, while detailed modelling supported the 5 Star NABERS Energy target and forecast 5.5-star NABERS Energy performance. The project received the 2023 Canberra Medallion and the John Andrews Award for Commercial Architecture. The result is an elegant workplace where architectural quality is reinforced by measurable environmental performance, with occupant wellbeing embedded throughout.