The all-new Sydney Fish Markets—dubbed the city’s most important harbourside project since the construction of the Opera House 50 years ago—has now topped out, with crews installing the last of 594 timber beams to support more than 466 cassettes that make up the unique fish-scale design.
The new milestone, celebrated by architects 3XN and construction crews on Friday, comes months after Wood Central exclusively spoke to the timber suppliers—Theca Timber, responsible for transporting huge volumes of glulam from Northern Italy to Sydney. At the time, Paolo Aschieri, Director of Theca Timber, said that 700 timber and 1,000 steel elements were used in the cassettes, creating the Southern Hemisphere’s largest Fish Market roof.
“The roof has a unique shape that uses the winds to extract warm air and protect workers from the southerly winds,” Mr Aschieri told Wood Central. “The canopy is a blend of wood and aluminium, designed to be outwardly as porous as possible while blocking direct sunlight and minimising the need for building cooling.”
In addition to more than 1,800 cubic metres of spruce glulam and 50 tonnes of steel used in the timber roof – which was transported in 30 different shipments to Sydney – the markets have also proven to be a massive boost for NSW businesses with more than $600m awarded to local suppliers.
“This includes more than 500 marine piles from SMC Marine in Balmain, more than 30,000 cubic metres of concrete from Traino in Pyrmont and 6,000 tonnes of reinforcement from Active Steel in Western Sydney,” according to a statement provided by the NSW government.
How the floating timber roof is being constructed
According to the NSW government, the new roof has a “gentle wave-like canopy that generates electricity for the markets.” The 230m long roof canopy also has a two-hectare footprint. It comprises more than 400 individual cassettes assembled on top of a temporary steel frame structure and placed on top of a glulam timber frame.
“Glulam was selected for its durability, resilience, and aesthetic appeal, adding a natural finish to the project,” the NSW government said, with Italian timber company Rubner Holzbau (distributed by Theca Timber) selected “due to there being no viable option in the Australian market.”
“The roof is built from repetitive modular elements, creating a seemingly complex shape from a relatively simple system,” they said, adding that ” this approach will minimise material waste and help ensure a safe and efficient building process.”
The roof surface allows reflected sunlight to naturally illuminate the upper levels while offering solar shading from direct rays – with solar panels integrated into the roof modules “to generate up to 5% of the daily energy consumption for the building.”
- To learn more about the Sydney Fish Market, click on Wood Central’s special feature.
