UTS Tower One, Level 11, 12 & 15 fitout

UTS was refurbishing several levels of its Tower One building, replacing classrooms with offices and commercial spaces for its Student Administration Unit (SAU) and Information Technology Division (ITD).

The Tower was constructed in the early 1970’s and unfairly described as “one of Sydney’s ugliest buildings”. However, UTS considers the building a significant work of mid-century modernism, where structural expressionism along with robust and natural finishes was central to the architecture.

Our team was conversant with the site, having worked on a lift upgrade in the original building. We were familiar with the precast and post tension framing in the tower and could provide construction advice on loading and core hole drilling.

We worked on a simple refurbishment strategy that gathered rooms around the central core; created an open plan to the perimeter and re-exposed the concrete coffers to view. The structural complexity of the partition walls required all connections to come from the ceiling with no exposed columns.

Northrop worked proactively with the builder on site to ensure we worked economically and were open to suggestions that would realise costs savings and better accommodate the build. We negotiated firmly between builder and architect and achieved a high-quality fit out for our client.  

Client Name
University of Technology, Sydney
Construction Value
$5 million

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