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- Wallan Warehouse Development, Melbourne
The Challenge
DTC Family Builders is transforming Wallan, a fast-growing township in Melbourne’s northern growth corridor, with “Wallan Home & Trade” a new industrial estate comprising a mix of 14 showrooms and factories, led by an initial release of five premium showrooms of around 1,000 m² each.
Developed and built by the Crystal Group, the project targets major retailers and large-format tenants seeking quality, scale, and access in a rapidly expanding region.
The team needed to deliver a high-quality, visually elevated frontage for the prominent freeway facing showrooms while remaining fast to build and cost-effective, which put pressure on the choice of façade materials and construction methodology.
Crystal Group also prioritised durability, recognising the development as a long-term asset, so the solution had to balance hard-wearing performance with strong presentation in a tough industrial environment, ensuring the buildings would stand up to heavy use while still projecting a clean, contemporary image capable of attracting big-brand tenants to a growth-area location.
The team needed to move beyond traditional wall build‑ups and deliver a shell that genuinely cut running costs for future tenants. The 100% tilt concrete wall approach was no longer adequate in a market expecting higher performance.
The way the buildings were constructed needed to materially lower operating costs, particularly for large showrooms with offices that are expensive to heat and cool.
The challenge was to deliver an envelope that could maintain comfortable internal conditions and significantly reduce energy demand over the long term, within the constraints of a fast‑track, multi‑building industrial development.
The Solution
LuxeWall by Bondor® architectural walling system proved to be the ideal solution for this project, tackling the dual demands of improved energy efficiency and accelerated delivery across a multi‑building industrial development.
The insulated sandwich panels formed both the external envelope and internal lining, arriving on site as a finished all-in-one panel that required no additional painting or cladding. This transformed the typical factory interiors from raw concrete into cleaner, more refined spaces.
“We don’t have to paint it. We don’t have to clad it’s all done”, said DTC Family Builders Director Marcel Mott.
“We now have the extra benefit that we have an extra nice feature on the inside too, just adding value to the showrooms.”
The panels’ high‑performance insulated core significantly improved R value and is expected to drive substantial reductions in operational energy costs.
Supplied in large‑format lengths of up to around 10 metres, the panels were prepped at ground level then lifted into position via forklift and vacuum lifter, before being secured from scissor and boom lifts.
This streamlined method allowed a small crew of three to four installers to fix each panel in roughly 10 minutes, achieving around 24 panels per day and completing most of the five‑building stage in about nine days on site.
“We delivered five large showrooms enclosed in under two weeks instead of the three and a half months typically expected”, Marcel said.
“For me, Bondor is a really practical choice. The panels go on quickly, so we are not wasting time on site, and they are quite affordable compared to a lot of other claddings.
“On an industrial job you need something that looks good but also works in the real world, and Bondor gives you that mix of speed, cost and practicality.”
