City of Charles Sturt
Built for the future: ESD in action at Henley Ngutungka
Henley Ngutungka, a new community centre and library opened in 2025, showcases the City of Charles Sturt’s commitment to sustainability. Designed under the council’s Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) framework, it features energy-efficient systems, rainwater harvesting, and low-emission materials. Powered by renewables and built for climate resilience, it sets a new benchmark for future council projects - demonstrating how local government can lead meaningful environmental change through smart, sustainable design.
The City of Charles Sturt is committed to reducing the environmental impacts of their operations, with a focus on embedding sustainability into the design, construction, and operation of their buildings and open spaces. In June 2022, they endorsed their Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) Requirements for Council Buildings, setting a clear framework to achieve these goals.
Henley Ngutungka is one of the first projects to showcase these requirements in action. The project demonstrates the council's vision for sustainable building assets: using less energy and potable water, producing fewer carbon emissions, being powered by renewables, incorporating recycled materials, enhancing resilience to climate impacts, and creating healthy, vibrant spaces that connect people with nature.
An independent ESD consultant was engaged early to identify site-specific opportunities and constraints. The resulting design integrates a new community facility with the adjacent State Heritage-listed Henley Town Hall, celebrating the site's cultural and historical significance while delivering a contemporary, sustainable building for the community. Spaces include meeting rooms, creative spaces, a children's collection, outdoor activity areas, a Soldiers War Memorial, bike storage, and changeroom facilities.
The key ESD principles embedded in the project were:
- passive design
- energy efficiency and low carbon outcomes
- climate resilience
- water conservation
- health and wellbeing
- sustainable materials.
Henley Ngutungka incorporates a range of ESD initiatives, including:
- automatic louvres for natural cross-ventilation
- highly efficient HVAC systems
- 50kW solar PV system on an all-electric building
- onsite rainwater harvesting
- retention of existing trees and new landscaping
- light-coloured roofing to minimise heat absorption
- biophilic design elements
- significant reduction in artificial lighting requirements
- low-emission concrete
- water-efficient fixtures
- excellent access to public transport and end-of-trip bike facilities.
The project demonstrates tangible benefits of integrating ESD from the outset - reducing carbon emissions, lowering operational costs, improving user comfort and wellbeing, and supporting the local economy. Henley Ngutungka has set a new benchmark for future Council projects, with ESD now a mandatory element for all new and renewal designs of Council-owned buildings.
By embedding climate resilience and sustainability into their built environment, the council is delivering lasting outcomes for their community and helping to create a more liveable, climate-adapted city.
Please note that the information provided has been submitted by the organisation and has not been independently verified.
