The FacadeXS solution for Melbourne’s Marina Towers

Construction of the complex has started.

The two towers (one dark, one light), will contain 461 condo units and have been called the most livable address in the world’s most livable city. The third building of the complex will house an upscale hotel with no less than 261 rooms.

Our solution

The glass facades of the complex will be accessible thanks to three different BMUs that will be designed by XSPlatforms and installed by Karabiner, Partner of XSPlatforms in Australia. There will be one roof car on top of each building: one on the hotel and one on each of the towers.

The two gondolas that will be used to maintain the glass facades of the residential towers system will be equipped with a soft rope system. By means of this system, the gondolas can be brought close to the sloping facades of the towers (one of the towers is leaning towards the water, the other leaning away from it).

BMU 3: Traversing roof car with a fixed outreach of 16 m (52 ft) and a max. luffing angle of 30 degrees.

BMU 3, on top of the hotel, consists of a traversing roof car, which runs over a track of 44 meters (144 feet) and suspends a gondola up to 60 meters (197 feet) down the facade. Its jib can be raised by 30 degrees in order to lift the gondola over the parapet, and the rotating spreader can be used to change the direction of the gondola. The latter function ensures that the front of the gondola is always parallel to the facade, to easily work around the corners of the facade even if the track of the roof car doesn’t follow the exact contours of the roof.

All three BMUs are equipped with a Glass Replacement Unit (GRU), so that glass panels can be transported up and down the facade. This facilitates glass replacement work.

The FacadeXS solution:

BMU 1: A telescopic roof car with a base height of 11.5 m (37 ft) and a maximum outreach of 22.5 m (73 ft), suspending a standard gondola up to 145 m (476 feet) down the facade.

BMU 2: A traversing roof car with a telescopic jib, with a max. luffing angle of 35 degrees and a max. outreach of 18 m (59 ft), suspending a standard gondola up to 120 (394 ft) down the facade.

BMU 3: A traversing roof car with a fixed jib, with a max. luffing angle of 30 degrees and a fixed outreach of 16 m (52 ft), suspending a standard gondola up to 60 m (197 ft) down the facade.

See how BMU 3 lifts a gondola over the parapet, and uses its rotating spreader: