The Ribbon, home to the W Hotel Sydney, is one of Darling Harbour's most recognisable buildings. Its curved, ribbon-like form and sculpted façade look striking from the water, and they make the building genuinely difficult to access for maintenance.
The challenge
Curved surfaces, non-linear geometry and high, exposed edges rule out standard access. The building needed a system designed around its exact shape so crews could reach the façade and multiple roof levels safely, without compromising the architecture that makes it a landmark.
What we delivered
Karabiner designed, supplied and installed a customised building maintenance unit engineered specifically for the Ribbon's shape and operational needs. Alongside the BMU, we installed a full height safety system: walkways, rigid rail, engineered anchor points, static lines and roof jockeys across the roof levels and façade zones. Where the geometry defeats a machine, our rope access crews reach the rest.
The result
Maintenance teams can safely reach the curved surfaces and exposed edges that define the building, protecting both the façade and the architecture over the long term. Have a building with complex geometry? Talk to our team.
