ShapeShift Technologies provides GRC and FRC material solutions for architectural façades, wall cladding and bespoke building elements. We collaborate with architects, façade consultants and building professionals to develop lightweight, durable solutions tailored to projects across Perth and Western Australia.
ShapeShift Technologies’ Western Australian work centres on Elizabeth Quay, including one of Perth’s landmark public artworks and a commercial tower in the same precinct.
| Project | Architect | Builder | Material | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Tower, Elizabeth Quay | ShapeShell™-RT | Oculus Void | ||
| Spanda | ShapeShell™-RT | Public artwork | ||
| NV Apartments | Scanlan Architects | Probuild | ShapeShell™-RT | Facade feature, 1,200 m² |
Perth combines high UV load with coastal exposure and, on the Swan River and the coast, a genuinely marine environment. That combination is hard on two things: coatings and reinforcement.
For coatings, the question is colour stability over decades on a surface nobody wants to repaint. Through-pigmented colour runs through the section rather than sitting on it, so a chip or a drilled penetration exposes the same colour rather than a grey substrate. Where a specific colour or gloss level is required, fluoropolymer and gel coat systems are used instead, and the finish options are set out on the colour and surface finish page.
For reinforcement, the marine exposure classification is what drives cover requirements in conventional reinforced concrete. Glass reinforced concrete has no steel and therefore no cover requirement, which removes the mechanism rather than managing it.
Perth is the most transport-sensitive market in Australia for facade materials, because almost everything arrives from a long way away. That favours materials with a high area to weight ratio, since the binding constraint on a load becomes volume rather than mass. It is the same reason ShapeShell™-RT suits large feature elements here: a 1,200 m² facade feature in fibre reinforced polymer ships in a fraction of the loads that an equivalent cast element would need.
Western Australian work includes projects with Scanlan Architects and builder Probuild.
The sequence is the same wherever the building is. Panel types are rationalised against the elevations, because mould count rather than area is what drives cost and programme in a moulded material. The fixing approach is engineered with the structural engineer and the builder, including whether fixings are concealed and whether a single panel can be replaced later without disturbing its neighbours. Moulds are fabricated from the approved shop drawings, panels are manufactured and finished, and delivery is sequenced to the install program.
Two things are worth settling early on any job. The first is the panel type count, the only large cost lever still available at design stage. The second is the fire evidence, because a compliance question raised late can force a material substitution after the facade has been priced. Both are covered in what drives GRC panel cost and non-combustible facade cladding.
Does ShapeShift Technologies supply projects in this city?
Yes. Panels are manufactured and delivered to site, and the projects listed above were all supplied that way.
What is the typical scope?
Design, engineering and manufacture of feature elements, from standard panels in stock sizes through to one-off sculptural work. Installation is generally carried out by the builder or a specialist installer.
Which material suits my project?
GRC for external facades and anything needing to be non-combustible, FRP for sculptural, long-span or weight-critical elements, GRG for interiors. The comparison is in FRP vs GRC vs GRG.
To scope a package, send the elevations, the dead load allowance and the compliance pathway through contact. Other cities are listed at facade projects by location.
