R1 Lend Lease Design Competition for a restaurant in Barrangaroo South


Pier Revival

This proposal is neither a sculpture nor a simple celebration of lifestyle but a building that is strongly related to the site; virtually of the site.  Reuse of the Turpentine piers, salvaged from Barangaroo, are brought back to give memorable form to this gem among giants.

The scale and weight of the timber is substantial and counterbalances any sense that such a small building might be flimsy.  It is here to last.

A whimsical attraction lead to a metaphor that resonates with maritime connections.  Timber jetties and boardwalks provided the key to a material that would contrast to the commercial and residential buildings of Barangaroo South, particularly the large ironbark sections that are placed alongside the edge of wharves.  They were the inspiration for timber cladding in large sections.  In structural development with Peter Macdonald at ARUP, he talked about a stockpile of Turpentine piles that Lend Lease had salvaged from the site; it was a serendipitous moment to realise that a salvaged timber from Barangaroo could be incorporated into this proposal for R1.  The concept shifted from milled timber to reuse the piles retrieved from the site in as natural a state as possible.  The attraction of this concept works on several levels; the aesthetic contrast to surrounding buildings, the reuse of a material originating on site, environmental perceptions and not least of all, the memorability of a building material such as piles in a near original state.

Location: Barangaroo avenue, Sydney 2000 -33.865628, 151.201438                    Team: Thierry Lacoste, David Stevenson, Shiyi Pan, Doreen Khun
Date: 2013
Structural Engineer: ARUP-Peter Mcdonald
Costing: WT Partnership-Gerry Heaton