A new mixed use precinct was to be located in a small park just south of the major arterial roadways heading west from the Sydney CBD.

The Design for Gateway 21 proposed shifting the built element into the middle of what is a typical ‘spaghetti junction’ of freeways and overpasses. The development would embrace the dynamism of the location while allowing the parkland site to remain as a parkland; a counterpoint to the new development.

A built envelope in the form of a cylinder was dropped into the middle of the freeway site. The roadways themselves were then subtracted from this envelope as were view corridors and pedestrian connections. This approach defined a series of towers, with differing heights and proportions that all hugged the existing infrastructure like a node that redirects the flow of energy along a circuit. This urban node becomes a physical Gateway into the City.

Location: Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW, Australia 33°52’24.43″S, 151°12’7.93″E
Date: 2002
Architects in association: Lacoste+Stevenson and MVRDV
Design team: Thierry Lacoste, David Stevenson, Winy Mass, Beth Hughes, Andrew Noonan
Photography / images: Lacoste+Stevenson Architects