Developing the site of the former harbour port facility at East Darling Harbour, now known as Barangaroo, provided a unique opportunity to add significant new office space to the CBD and extensive new harbour side parklands.

The proposal established a new city quarter for Sydney based on an innovative public domain solution of 3 parts park to 1 part built program tightly contained on the southern 25% of the site. The new parkland and network of city streets provides a strong and dynamic framework for the commercial development of the site while liberating as much area as possible for the park. The road pattern responds to the Sydney tradition of views glimpsed down streets to the water. The buildings are different heights; the taller commercial buildings away from the foreshore at an average height of 15 storeys. This new city block contrasts with the rest of the city and creates an identifiable character of its own; dense, alive, memorable, dynamic, surprising, worldly, artistic, sustainable, commercial. Roofs of the new buildings are greened for environmental and recreational benefits. The ability to capture, filter and reuse water, insulate buildings and become a symbol of global and local environmental concerns demonstrates a commitment to sustainability.

Location: East Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW, Australia      -33.859617, 151.201740
Date: 2005
Design team: Thierry Lacoste, David Stevenson, Jane Bober
Landscape architect: Anton James Design
Model: James Draper