Offering a range of activities, from boxing, table tennis, indoor soccer, badminton, and judo as well as acting and dancing classes, Hornsby’s PCYC plays an essential role in the local Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai communities. To facilitate its growing membership base, the club recently moved to a new site at the Mark Taylor Oval precinct of Hornsby’s Waitara Park.

Working in partnership with Hornsby Council, PCYC worked alongside their building and design teams, Carfax Commercial Constructions and Facility Design Group - Architects (FDG), to deliver a multi-purpose, two storey space, that served the community’s needs, and also met Council’s stringent site requirements.

Citing specific guidelines for the building’s tone, aesthetic, height and foot print, Hornsby Council’s brief called for a bold facade design that would also merge seamlessly with the heritage trees of Waitara Park’s recreational grounds.

“As the premier PCYC facility in New South Wales, we wanted the building to present a commanding look with a bold, industrial feel, so we introduced a combination of raw finishes and bright colours to achieve this,” explains Andrew Fenwick, Senior Project Manager at Hornsby PCYC.

“Cemintel’s BareStone provided the perfect solution for this desired, neutral aesthetic. A prefinished cladding, it required no painting or surface preparation and delivered a high-quality concrete looking finish. The cladding’s express joints also introduced an added detail to the facade,” explains Fenwick.

To heighten the facade’s dramatic feel with a bolt of colour, the team chose Cemintel’s Commercial Express Panel cladding and painted it red to provide a nod to PCYC’s branding and create a stark contrast to the raw, grey BareStone panels.

“The second floor gym and adjoining balcony is one of the club’s key focal points, so we wanted a building material that ensured this space formed a distinctive feature in the facade. Cemintel’s ExpressWall panels were the perfect canvas, we painted them red to create a captivating aesthetic and the result speaks for itself; the building is a stand out design on the local skyline and is even visible to planes flying from a northern approach,” adds Fenwick.

Both Cemintel products were selected for the aesthetic and performance benefits they brought to the project.

“From an architectural point of view, FDG utilised Cemintel’s range for its ability to provide a robust and sharp looking facade treatment, as well as the variation in palette it offers. From a painted, coloured finish to a raw, sealed cement look, it delivered the powerful contrast we were looking to achieve,” explains Stephen Johansson from FDG.

Fellow FDG architect, Andrew Teodorwych, further explains; “We chose the Barestone on the east side of the building to work in with the precast concreate wall of the basketball hall, but also wanted to add colour to the rest of the exterior facade to offset these monolithic finishes.”

The products’ installation system was another consideration for the team. As lightweight building materials, both BareStone and Express Panels use a common, reputable construction system, Cemintel’s Commercial ExpressWall, ensuring a swift and efficient build, saving the project time and money.

“Cemintel’s BareStone and Express Panel cladding proved the perfect choice for this project, as they provide a lightweight, cost and time effective, facade solution, that looks good and will perform long term,” adds Paul Reimer from Carfax Commercial Constructions.

The final result was described by PCYC Club Manager Daniel Allars as “The best facilities in the state’’ as the club is now home to a fantastic suite of facilities including two premium indoor sports courts, a modern gym, a full gymnastics set-up, various multipurpose rooms and a fully catered café.”

With the redevelopment proving instrumental in driving the club’s growth, and over 1,000 people joining once the new facility was announced, the PCYC is set to continue its role as a key community hub for Hornsby locals for the next fifty years, and beyond.

 -- photographs by Angie Burgess --