In June 2010, PTW Architects won a limited competition among five Australian practices for a complex mixed-used project in the heart of Sydney’s central business and retail district. On a complex consolidated site within the CBD of Sydney, the project is positioned between two heritage buildings on George Street and occupying the depth of a city block, the project also includes the restoration of two heritage listed buildings on the site, facing York Street. A development application was lodged in December 2010 and has just been approved by Sydney City Council.More images and architects’ description after the break.
The new podium on George Street will connect through most of the floors on the rear heritage buildings creating a large contiguous retail floor. A pedestrian link adapting a historic cart-lane in the heritage buildings will link the two streets and also create the entry to commercial office floors on 12 floors above podium and heritage buildings, with the core slotted into the center of the site with minimal impact on the heritage fabric.
Within the rich context of recent CBD projects and historic buildings, the architectural language of the building focuses on simplicity and the repeated use of detail components, unique to the individual components of the project, which are described in more detail in the following paragraphs.
The retail podium façade relates to the adjacent heritage buildings in both height and proportion, with sloped window boxes set within a slender framework of structure. A large horizontal recess separates the commercial tower level above. Here the curtain wall is a ‘saw-tooth’ system with angled panes and deep mullions in every 1.5m bay, and more solid precast concrete panels on the side elevations.
The restoration of the heritage buildings on York Street concentrates on peeling back layers to the historically relevant fabric and carefully detailing contemporary insertions. Above the heritage buildings the office floors are built as a lightweight steel box supported by a long-span steel truss to minimize the impact on the historic buildings below. The main façade uses a random pattern of solid precast elements and glazed panels with proportional reference to the masonry facades below.
Architect: PTW Architects Location: Sydney, Australia Team: Andrew Andersons, Sven Ollmann, Niall Durney, Anne Ng Client: FIFE Capital Consultants: ARUP, PDR Smart Structures, Design5, Rider Levett Bucknall, McKenzie Group Time line: Competition June 2010, Development consent March 2011, Construction to commence Q4 2011
