ARDEX Australia is near completion of a green star manufacturing regional headquarters in Kemps Creek, west of Sydney, positioning it as an Industry 4.0 building materials manufacturer for Oceania.
Oceania Regional Managing Director, Fabian Morgan, said the move underscores the company’s future-focussed sustainable vision.
“We are passionate people who are driven by innovation, responsibility, integrity and belonging. The site’s 50-year design life and targeting 6-star green rating are testament to our vision, values and plans for reinvestment back into our people, profitability and planet.”
“We’re investing now for long term, low cost production ensuring we will retain our market focused position for decades to come,” he said.
The site’s bespoke advanced manufacturing design includes a world-class 35-metre-high powder manufacturing tower used to vertically mix raw materials efficiently. The new liquids manufacturing plant is an industry-first for its orientation and size and includes a 20-metre silo tower for storage and transfer of raw materials to the multi-level mixing plant.
“Our commitment to local manufacturing and Australian-made supply brings certainty and stability to customers.”
Other Industry 4.0 characteristics include automation, electric vehicles and forklifts, solar panel system spanning 17,000 sqm, rainwater tanks, and energy efficient lighting – targeting the site a 6 Star Green Star Design As-Built v1.3 rating and a serious contender for awards into the future.
The YARDS developed by joint-venture partners Frasers Property Industrial and Aware Real Estate is the first industrial estate in Australia to achieve a 6 Star Green Star Communities v1.1 rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, within which the ARDEX Oceania HQ resides. It includes solar installations, water harvesting and recycling, and full electrification to facilitate a seamless transition to fossil fuel-free energy sources in the future.
The ARDEX HQ site doubles the size of the company’s current research and training facilities, recognising the requirements for new and innovative building material solutions and a strong succession of future installers and applicators in the waterproofing, generation construction, flooring and tiling industries.
The location is strategic for an optimal national logistics network for the warehouse, located nearby the 24/7 Western Sydney International Airport and future Southern Link Road in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis, close to the M4 and M7, and within Greater Western Sydney’s sought-after industrial zone, alongside Microsoft and Amazon.
ARDEX has future plans to grow local employment opportunities. According to Tanya Davies, Member for Badgerys Creek, ARDEX is clearly an organisation with strong values and best employer qualities which brings attractive employment opportunities for residents within the largest employment catchment area in Sydney.
“We’re excited to welcome ARDEX into the neighbourhood and value their integrity and responsibility towards the environment, skills and future vision.”
The $140 million investment is the single largest infrastructure investment that the intergenerational privately-owned global organisation has internally funded in its 70 years of operation.
