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Contemporary, striking and environmentally friendly, the URS Building located on 70 Light Square, Adelaide has been awarded a 4 star Greenstar certified rating by the Green Building Council of Australia – the first refurbished building in South Australia to achieve this.

Designed by Hames Sharley the rating signifies best practices in environmentally sustainable design and construction including categories such as indoor environmental quality, water, energy, emissions and innovation.

Director of Hames Sharley, Caillin Howard said it was a welcome to achieve the rating within the constraints of an old building.

“It’s all about making sure our buildings work and are designed with the environment in mind, and not in isolation as they did in the 1970s and 1980s,“ Mr Howard said.

“We need to be smarter in the way we use new technology and innovative design to ensure our new and refurbished commercial buildings of the future are far more sustainable.”

Highly visible and modern in appearance, the building utilised UV film which was applied as a secondary louvered façade system onto the existing glazing. This minimizes heat that filters in from the western front of the building and retains it during the winter. The clever use of bright colours and glazing has also helped to reposition the building and rebrand Light Square.

Replacement of floors, ceilings and systems were environmentally sensible however, where possible materials were recycled to reduce the impact of infill. The redesign also took advantage of natural light. Air conditioning and light layouts were aligned with natural light penetration and heat loss, loading of the building which encouraged large energy-using components to only be used where and when it was necessary.