One of the three tower cranes used to build the world’s tallest timber-hybrid building has now come down, as Atlassian Central closes on its full height above Sydney’s Central Station. That is according to the latest Dexus and Built Obayashi Joint Venture site notice, which confirmed crews dismantled Tower Crane 3 last weekend using the two cranes that remain.
And whilst Dexus has yet to confirm a top-out date, the $1.45 billion tower is slated to reach its full 39-storey height in the coming weeks, ahead of practical completion later this year. Wood Central understands that the final level concrete pour is slated to be finalised this month, the structural top-out that will bring the tower to its peak above Central Station.
In total, more than 30,000 cubic metres of cross-laminated timber and glulam run across 21 of the tower’s 39 storeys, stacked in seven four-storey habitats that each sandwich three timber floors between steel-and-concrete mega floor plates. The timber, supplied by European producers Stora Enso and Wiehag, sits within a steel exoskeleton that fans out from the building’s concrete core as it rises.
Designed by New York firm SHoP with Australian practice BVN, each habitat stacks its timbered floors inside the exoskeleton to eliminate internal columns across the building. The lightweight timber floors connect to the concrete-and-steel floors via drag straps, an engineering approach that timber structural lead Tim Allen has described as among the most advanced anywhere in the world.
Since Dexus and the Built Obayashi Joint Venture began construction in 2022, the tower has gone up on time and on budget, even as new office construction across Sydney has all but stalled. It surpassed Milwaukee’s Ascent in April to become the world’s tallest hybrid timber building, as glazing crews pushed the Onyx Solar skin up the facade.
On a May site tour high in the tower, Dexus chief executive Ross Du Vernet took in views spanning the Blue Mountains, Sydney Harbour and the eastern beaches. “This is a saleable asset,” Du Vernet said, citing the building’s 4 per cent annual fixed rental increases and Atlassian’s investment-grade credit rating as the appeal for offshore investors.
Because the building has gone up on time and on budget, Du Vernet has called it a valuation story, with the floors and windows now installed and internal walls rising. Atlassian holds 15-year leases across all 39 floors as the building’s anchor tenant and is managing the interior fit-out.
Dexus office development head Peter Morley oversees the tower’s inside-outside airflow, which blends conventional air-conditioning with natural ventilation and fans across the elevated work areas. The naturally ventilated work areas high in the habitats are designed to knock the chill off conventional office air-conditioning.
Slated for practical completion in November, Atlassian Central will house up to 5,000 workers and more than 450 hotel guests once the fit-out is complete, according to Dexus. Atlassian will take occupation of five of its seven timber habitats in late 2028, by which point the $1.45 billion tower will stand as the tallest hybrid timber building on the planet.
