Shoreline is a harbour-side proposal that seeks to reinstate the balance between the natural eco-system and man’s habitation on the harbours edge.

The transformation of another industrial site on Pyrmont Bay to parkland is further evidence of the gentrification of Sydney’s working harbour. Over the last 200 years Sydney Harbour’s shorelines have been built and consolidated, almost entirely eradicating the original tidal ecosystem. The mangrove covered mud banks, once home to many different bird species and crustaceans have gradually disappeared.

The shoreline is re-established to its location prior to European settlement of the harbour. A floating swimming pool is anchored in the middle of the mangroves as a small built intervention. The buildings are pushed back along the cliff to liberate the shoreline, creating maximum space for the re-establishment of the harbour’s lost territories.

Location: Former Water Police Site, Pyrmont NSW, Australia 33°51’53.00″S, 151°11’29.53″E
Date: 2004
Design team: Thierry Lacoste, David Stevenson
Landscape architect: Anton James Design
Photography / images: Lacoste+Stevenson Architects