Sited amidst the CSIRO campus at Kensington in Western Australia, the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre is custom designed to house one of the world’s largest supercomputers. GHD Design was responsible for the design of the Pawsey Centre’s external shell and the interior planning and design.

Installed over a 12 month period, the first stage of the $66million petascale supercomputing facility was completed in 2013. This unique facility necessitated equally exceptional building requirements, including a 1000 m2 computer hall above a 1300 m2 basement, supported by a 1150 m2 detached annex plant building.

The computer hall features distinct temperature and humidity profiles, aligned with an intensive client brief requiring best practice in energy efficiency. The centre also includes a public outreach exhibition space providing a mix of static, audio and visual display material relating to the supercomputer and science projects.