13 Dec 2023
Work yard, play yard: The YARDS Premium Estate in Sydney reimagines the future of industrial spaces
Andrew Thai, Frasers Property Industrial’s National Sustainability Manager
In the New South Wales suburb of Kemps Creek, a new sort of industrial estate is beginning to take shape. Three years from now, a vast swathe of land – 77 hectares, or the size of 140 football fields – will be a place where workers do not just work hard. They will also play hard, taking part in sports, or grabbing lunch or a drink. It won’t be a sea of industrial grey either, as its features green open spaces, footpaths and cycling lanes.
The YARDS, a project by Frasers Property Industrial and Aware Real Estate, is one of the new developments in Sydney’s expanding west and 47 km from the central business district. It is a response to a question its developers have long been mulling over.
“What does ‘good’ look like from a community perspective in an industrial estate?” wondered Andrew Thai, Frasers Property Industrial’s National Sustainability Manager.
Artist's Impression: Techtronic Industries warehouse and distribution facility
“We don’t actually know the answer, which is why we embarked on this learning exercise. There’s a heightened focus here on health and well-being, as well as community amenities, which are typically lacking in a lot of these industrial estates.”
Shoot for the (green) stars
The YARDS is the first industrial estate in Australia to achieve the Green Building Council of Australia’s 6 Star Green Star Communities rating. This top rating recognises the project's approach to governance, liveability, economic prosperity, environment, and innovation.
Artist's Impression: Probiotec's built-to-suit 29,808 sqm facility, is set to be completed by 2024
Artist's Impression: Integrated parks, walking tracks and cycle paths within the masterplan
It is green in more ways than one. The estate will be “all-electric”, equipped with electric vehicle charging stations and no fossil fuel gas piped in. Every building will have solar panels; energy-efficient warehouses with smart controls; and rainwater collected for use in toilets and watering plants.
“It will be future-ready. Even though the city infrastructure hasn't been set up to supply recycled water, we've put in dual piping to allow a switchover to it,” Andrew added.
The community focus of Premium Estate The YARDS, set to house about a dozen customers in sectors such as logistics and manufacturing, is a novel concept in industrial spaces.
“There’s a lot of shift work. This type of work is very focused on movement of goods and less focused on the people. Many workers go straight to their building and don’t leave until it is time to go home,” Andrew noted.
This is why its success will be largely driven by how well the landlords curate events for customers and occupiers for interacting with them, he added.
An estate that grows with you
Estate-wide events might be one way to do that. An event that promotes mental health and well-being in truck drivers, for example, or a roadshow on the safety of roller-shutter doors.
The Green Star framework was adopted as a useful guide about a year into the design phase as Frasers Property and Aware Real Estate sought to make The YARDS more liveable. They decided to target a 6 Star rating instead of 5 Stars. It came at a cost premium, largely due to consultancy fees, but would hopefully provide learning points that could also benefit future projects.
“We've designed it to be adaptable for any type of renewable energy you want in the future – a space that grows with the customer.
Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds seeks to deliver industry-relevant resources to help support mental health and wellbeing
We're hoping that will translate to ‘stickier’ customers,” Andrew said, adding that top management has been very supportive.
Manifesting a low-impact future
Andrew has an engineering degree from the University of New South Wales, specialising in photovoltaics and solar energy.
The degree involved aspects of quantum physics which he felt “were not moving the needle quickly enough”. It however allowed him to pick a minor course in architecture – which ended up paving the way for his career in the built environment.
“I really liked the idea of manifesting a low-impact future physically in a building that gets built and stays (around) for quite a while,” said Andrew, who joined Frasers Property in 2015 as a sustainability manager for its Australian portfolio spanning 101 properties.
Today, he advises the organisation on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, and works with delivery, operations and asset management teams to execute its sustainability strategy.
“My vision for Frasers Property Industrial is reaching a point where we no longer require sustainability roles – because everyone would know what they need to do for future we need,” he quipped candidly.
He is glad to see a high degree of collaboration and learning in the built environment industry with ESG’s growing importance, which never existed before.
“We work very closely with our peers in Australia – other industrial logistics developers – and talk to them about what materials they're procuring, what conversations they're having with their suppliers, so that we can push the same agenda for change with ours,” Andrew added.
To him, ESG should not be seen as a competition but all about the win-win.
“I really disagree with that zero-sum mindset. To accelerate the shift to net-zero, or responsible procurement, we should actively focus on these issues collaboratively with our supply chain. Helping our supply chain helps us achieve our goals, and more importantly helps to minimise everyone's environmental impact.”
Artist's Impression: ARDEX's new facility, will be a flagship facility used for the manufacturing and supply