Bondi Pavilion wows Hong Kong Green Building Council

23 October 2023

23 October 2023

Waverley Council’s award-winning Bondi Pavilion restoration has received five stars reviews from the prestigious Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) whose representatives toured the heritage building this month.

HKGBC has been proactively engaging with counterparts from around the globe to create learning and exchange opportunities for its members to accelerate the practice of green building development in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most densely populated areas.

Around 35 Hong Kong delegates toured the Pavilion with Mayor Masselos (pictured front- centre).

The Mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, said Waverley Council was delighted to host the member exclusive HKGBC delegation whose tour of Australia was supported by the Green Building Council of Australia.

HKGBC regards Australia as a global leader in sustainable building practices through our well-established Green Star rating system. Bondi Pavilion, established in 1928 as the “Playground of the Pacific”, is targeting a 5-star green star rating as part of this project.

"The 35-member strong overseas delegation was impressed at how the design of our heritage listed Pavilion restoration had so successfully combined sustainability and innovation in the most elegant of ways,” Mayor Masselos said.

“The Bondi Pavilion restoration is a beautiful example of how a Council as small as Waverley can make green building projects not only a reality, but excel at it, through commitment to innovative design and prudent fiscal management.”

Architect Peter Tonkin provided an overview of the building's sustainable design elements.

Sustainability features of the restoration project include:

  • An 100% electric building with 217 solar panels that provide 71% of the building’s power needs during the day
  • 80% of existing structure retained to embody energy and materials
  • About 90% of the construction waste recycled
  • Connected to a centralised stormwater harvesting system located at south Bondi Park which provides 100% of irrigation needs and for our public bathrooms
  • improved thermal comfort in our open spaces and enclosed habitable rooms by minimising VOCs, using green star tagged products, and through using natural ventilation whenever and wherever possible
  • A Building Energy Monitoring System that measures consumption of energy output and input. The system also controls ventilation and temperature and can be remotely controlled to reduce energy consumption
  • Nearby electric vehicle charging stations, public transport and bike racks on our doorstep
  • Land use and ecology was also a major focus, with new mass planted mounds, timber seating and new native tree planting.

The Bondi Pavilion Restoration Project has won several industry awards including:

  • 2023 Heritage Awards Judges Choice award
  • Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ State Landscape Architecture Award for Civic Landscape
  • A Public Architecture award at the 2023 NSW Architecture Awards
  • Robin Dods Roof Tile Excellence Award in the 2023 Think Brick Awards.

“Bondi Pavilion has seen many activities and reincarnations over the years and is now the cultural hub of Bondi with a theatre, gallery, music studios, art and pottery studios, and spaces for hire for regular classes, workshops, functions, festivals and parties,” Mayor Masselos said.

“Its history has been preserved and enhanced, with many layers discovered in our painstaking restoration and re-build.”

On 24 August 2023, The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia, officially commemorated Waverley Council’s heritage restoration of the historic Bondi Pavilion at a plaque unveiling and tour of the beachside venue.

At the unveiling, he told guests that: “The restoration of Bondi Pavilion has brought back the sparkle to one of our most loved buildings. Just as you can't imagine Sydney Harbour without the Opera House, you can't imagine Bondi Beach without the Pavilion. Bondi is a much-loved national treasure. One of the expressions of that love is that we never take it for granted. We have to protect it and nurture it, because even a treasure like Bondi needs a boost sometimes to be at its best”.

Tonkin Zulaikha Greer were architects on the project and BuildCorp was head contractor.

To explore what’s on at the Pavilion, visit bondipavilion.com.au

-ENDS-

Media inquiries: media@waverley.nsw.gov.au or 0416 075 532.