Cutting Edge

Cutting Edge is a 4500 square metre four level building for Australia’s leading film and television post-production company. The site has 3 street frontages all with very differing scales and relationships with the immediate context. The concrete fins rotate on the critical corner junction to reveal different views of the river and it is this device that connects the differing elevations to the River (transparent open) and to the Park (closed articulated openings).

The four level building contains a wide range of flexible work spaces including staff offices, audio rooms and booths, studio spaces, digital suites, multimedia suites, visual effects suites, a theatrette for 60 people, and a restaurant for 140 people. The building was conceived as a ground-breaking, full service post production facility under one roof, including video and audio editing, digital effects studios, sound recording and studio spaces, and outside broadcast facilities. Its design, from the ground up, enabled RKA to develop significant expertise with the integration of the complex acoustic requirements for these highly technical spaces.

Constructed of white insitu concrete and zinc wall cladding, the four-level building has a significant two-storey wall of operable blinds on the river elevation. The concrete for the walls and fins contains a white oxide additive, a white aggregate and a white Ravensbourne sand which produced a vibrant white hue to the concrete walls when used externally. The deletion of the fillets allowed the concrete elements to have much stronger reading within the building presentation. 

As the concrete had a rich depth of colour and texture these walls were also used internally to produce a seamless transition between interior and exterior. Internally the white concrete walls were used to identify the public spaces and foyers and were typically light where possible by natural light.