The project

Located in Melbourne's outer east, Westfield Knox is one of the city's largest shopping centres. As part of a $355 million transformation that began in 2022, centre-wide interior enhancements include a new living destination comprising some of the world's best lifestyle and fashion retailers.

Natural light, greenery and sustainable materials such as timber feature heavily in Westfield's project design. A vast timber entry skylight that extends into the retail precinct is a particularly striking element that was completed in October 2022.

Intergrain Trade & Industrial National Specification Manager, Gareth Connell, worked with the project's mass timber manufacturers, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH), to help realise this distinctive feature of redevelopment for Scentre Group (owners of Westfield Knox).

The challenge

Showcasing the warm, natural properties of timber lay at the heart of the architect’s vision for the entry skylight, which is an intricate design including primary, secondary, and diagonal beams.

"As the MASSLAM used on this project was going to be transported, then stored onsite prior to assembly and installation, it needed to be well protected before it left the ASH Gippsland factory", explains Gareth.

When it came to top-coating the skylight, the major challenge was to protect and preserve the timber’s natural beauty from powerful UV rays through the glazing.

The Intergrain solution

"Through our collaborative relationship with ASH, we suggested pre-oiling the skylight timbers with Intergrain Universal Timber Oil before transportation to site", Gareth says.

Coating the timbers with Intergrain Universal Timber Oil provided advanced protection during the period the timber was exposed to the elements while being stored onsite and during assembly.

"Intergrain Universal Timber Oil nourishes and deeply penetrates timber. It repels water, and limits the timber and componentry from drying out, thereby safeguarding structural stability", Gareth explains.

"Another huge advantage of this product is that it's an "unlocked system". This unique product technology means that timbers coated with Intergrain Universal Timber Oil can be coated with either an oil or a water-based topcoat."

"Architects, specifiers and builders love this flexibility, because it means they're not limited when it comes to top-coating and can choose the ideal product to achieve the desired look and timber finish."

Gareth and his team suggested Intergrain UltraClear for the Westfield Knox skylight topcoat, to bring out the timber's natural beauty while providing superior protection against UV.

"When recommending a topcoat, we made sure we understood the unique conditions the timbers would be exposed to, including significant UV given their position under the skylight glazing."

"Intergrain UltraClear is also low VOC, low odour and environmentally friendly, which aligned with Westfield's vision for a sustainable project."

The results

As well as providing a stunning entry to the centre, the Westfield Knox skylight sets the tone for the entire centre development: warm, environmentally friendly and in harmony with the natural environs.

According to ASH's National Business Development Manager, Daniel Wright, Intergrain's coating solutions not only delivered a brilliant result, but also efficiency benefits.

"A key advantage of Intergrain Universal Timber Oil is that the timber can be wet stacked after coating. This means it can be coated, wrapped and stored without holding up production while we wait for it to cure."

"We also really like Intergrain UltraClear over Intergrain Universal Timber Oil. At Westfield Knox, this combination enhanced the appearance of the timber while providing robust UV protection."

"We appreciate Gareth and his team. Their product and specification knowledge helps us realise excellent outcomes for our clients," Daniel says.

Following the success of the skylight, Intergrain's combination of Universal Timber Oil plus Intergrain UltraClear was also applied to internal timber feature walls and kiosk exteriors throughout Westfield Knox.

Get in touch

Intergrain Trade & Industrial's team bring expert product knowledge, service and support to every commercial project. To discuss how we can support your next timber coatings specification, please contact Intergrain Trade & Industrial's National Specification Manager, Gareth Connell.