Sydney ‘plyscraper’ and Atlassian’s new headquarters reaches new heights

Some 39 storeys above Central Station, roads and rail lines radiate like scattered spaghetti between the Lego-like blocks of Sydney’s rooftops, extending to almost every point of the compass until meeting the blue horizon of ocean and harbour, and mountains.Far below, Mike Cannon-Brookes and his Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar were 25 years ago living in separate flat shares in Glebe and Randwick and building their software business.Up to half of the building could be leased to other businesses.AtlassianThe physical manifestation of their ambitions, the $1.45 billion Atlassian Central tower, has structurally topped out. The core of what will be the world’s tallest hybrid timber building – dubbed the “plyscraper” – now stands at its highest point on the city skyline, built from a rare combination of mass timber, steel and concrete.The now solo tech entrepreneur joined NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey at the site on Wednesday morning to mark the milestone for Tech Central, Sydney’s technology precinct.“Sydney has always been our home and it’s one of our busiest offices anywhere, but in all these years we’ve never had a chance to build our own space from the ground up for how we work,” Cannon-Brookes said.As is traditional for topping out ceremonies and as a gesture of good fortune for the build, an Australian native evergreen was lifted to the summit earlier this week to celebrate the placement of the final, highest structural beam. The tree recognises the work, skills and dedication of the tradespeople and construction crew and developers who brought the project to its maximum height.The landmark building officially eclipses the previous record holder, the 25-storey Ascent tower in Milwaukee in the United States, by 100 metres. Crown Towers is the city’s tallest habitable building at 272 metres.Mike Cannon-Brookes at the topping out ceremony atop the Atlassian building.James BrickwoodBut those wings have been clipped along the way. Cannon-Brookes insists the software firm remains committed to its investment in its new headquarters despite recently reducing its workforce by 1600 employees.Atlassian will serve as the chief anchor tenant with three of the habitats subleased to other tech ventures, a smaller footprint than first envisaged but a move Atlassian says aligns with its mission to create a mecca for startups and innovators.“From the outset we set a mission to have intelligence and sustainability baked into the building, not as an afterthought which means better materials, better engineering, much better data and in the end, a much better outcome for all concerned.”For property developer and co-owner Dexus, and builder Built, the next phase involves filling the steel exoskeleton with mass timber elements and a glass façade. Crews are installing central building services, with the development on track for practical completion by the end of this year.Designed by local practice BVN in collaboration with New York-based firm SHoP Architects, the tower reconfigures traditional office tower spaces – where departments are confined to single floors on enclosed levels. BVN’s project director Tim Crawshaw said the building will extend to the top of a ring beam which is still to be cladded and varies in height due to the slope required for sun access into Prince Alfred Park.His collaborator Andrea Teixeira, associate for ShoP, said the design was seven years in development since its participation in the 2019 international design competition. Its global clients had been closely watching the project, especially the concept of the floating four floors of timber and its natural ventilation and landscape.Atlassian Central is the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower at more than 180 metres. James BrickwoodShe predicts this project will change people’s mind about working from home. “Here, they are connected to the city, they are not in a satellite village.”The new office spaces are arranged into interconnected four-storey clusters known as “habitats”, where three timber floors are arranged between steel-and-concrete mega floor plates.Stacked within a surrounding steel exoskeleton – a structural approach similar to that of new Powerhouse Parramatta – these timber habitats eliminate the need for internal columns.Each pod features one fully air-conditioned floor and three floating lightweight timber floors attached to the steel and concrete core by revolutionary drag straps. These are recessed to overlook a triple-height atrium “park space” partially open to the elements.At street level, the base of the tower will incorporate a reconstructed historic Parcels Shed, which will be housing a 480-bed YHA youth hostel.In all 10,000 cubic metres of timber, highly specialised and sourced from Austria, will go to the project, along with 8000 tonnes of structural steel and 30,000 cubic metres of green concrete.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.From our partners