Chadstone Shopping Centre

Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs has been a retail icon since it first opened in 1960. As Australia’s largest shopping centre, it attracts 20 million customers each year.

And now a $660 million expansion has marked the 40th stage of the centre’s development.

Opening in October 2016, the new expansion incorporates 34,000m² of retail space including a cinema complex, dining terrace, food gallery and 60 new retail stores.

This new offering is enclosed by a spectacular free spanning “grid shell” roof – the first of its kind in Australia.

Built by Probuild and designed by some of the best engineers and architects from around the world, the roof features 2,700 unique glass panels of various size and shape that collectively weigh more than 500 tonnes.

Approximately 30 metres high, the glass roof creates an atrium-like indoor environment that floods the mall with an abundance of natural light and provides a connection to the outdoors.

Behind the scenes

Away from its busy malls, customers at Chadstone Shopping Centre are kept comfortable by a mechanical services design by consultants Simpson Kotzman and mechanical contractor, D&E Air Conditioning.

The centre features a significant thermal plant that includes two 2400kW and one 1200kW high output Arizona Hot Water Heaters supplied by Automatic Heating.

The Hoyts cinema complex is served exclusively by two 620kW Arizona Hot Water Heaters.

All boilers were craned into position and installed under an outdoor enclosure on the rooftop.

As well as being an energy efficient alternative to standard boilers, the Arizona range were selected for their small footprint relative to their capacity.

They are a high output boiler made entirely of carbon steel, allowing them to operate at different powers within a set range. They also feature three combustion gas passes to improve heat exchange between the combustion gases and the water.

Electronic control was also provided by Automatic Heating to manage combustion as well as the plant’s expansion system. This system incorporates Duraflex Forte expansion tanks and an EcoFill refill unit, also supplied by Automatic Heating.

Automatic Heating was called on to provide in-house expertise to D&E to ensure maximum boiler efficiency was achieved, including the adjustment of water temperatures, continuing the strong relationship between the two companies.

photography by Liquid Photography