Workers at a Taren Point roofing company are proud to have turned a vision for the Westfield Miranda "fish scales" facade into reality.
Red 8 Roofing installed the 3mm thick, aluminium perforated powder coated sheets, which were designed to create a wave effect, in keeping with Sutherland Shire's beach culture.
Jason Cavanagh, the head of the company which has 80 employees — most of whom live in the shire — said they believed the effect was "unreal".
"It is different, modern and a lot more exciting than a plain wall," he said.
Mr Cavanagh said Westfield's design team came up with the idea.
"We had to come up a way of installing the sheets as well as designing the galvanised framework," he said.
Mr Cavanagh said a range of tests, including the effects of wind, were carried out.
"The material came from Victoria and, after the crates were lifted by crane to a concrete platform, we hand-walked each piece up through the scaffolding, being careful not to scratch it," he said.
Mr Cavanagh said the firm also installed the roofing.
"We had 20 guys on site for three to four months, with four to six guys on the fish scales," he said.
The sky's the limit
Things are looking up for the shire roofing firm.
‘‘When I started the business in 2000, there was just me and a first-year apprentice, and now there are 70 of us,’’ Jason Cavanagh said.
‘‘We do work for a lot of the big retail companies such as Bunnings, Coles, Woolworths and IKEA, and we have just won a contract for the new exhibition centre at Darling Harbour.
Mr Cavanagh attributed the company’s success to ‘‘managing it right and employing the right people’’.
Do you like "the scales"?