The Star Casino has declared it wants to build two towers, of 110 and 180 metres, in Pyrmont at the site of its ill-fated proposal for a 237-metre-tall hotel and residential tower designed by FJMT.
The casino is banking on the government’s need to boost the construction industry and accelerate the economic recovery to win support for the proposal.
In a submission made on the draft Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy – an overhaul of the area’s planning regulation that will allow for towers of up to 180 metres – Star notes that it has listened to criticism of its earlier tower and developed a proposal that will be “a compelling step forward for Pyrmont and NSW.”
On the northern section of the site, where the original tower was to be built, the casino wants to build a 110-metre hotel development with a signature restaurant and other food and beverage offerings. The submission notes that the tower would be less than half the height of the original proposal, and almost identical in height to the four 106-metre chimney stacks that once rose from the site as part of the former Pyrmont Power Station.
To the south of the site, on Union Street, the 180-metre tower would house apartments and another hotel, with retail, a restaurant and bars in the podium.
A report prepared by Ethos Urban and included in the submission notes that while Star is broadly supportive of the draft place strategy, it takes issue with some detailed principles established in the Urban Design Strategic Framework prepared by Hassell in July 2020.
In particular, Ethos’s report interrogates the concept of “a stepping down of building heights from the peninsula to the harbour edge” to protect the historic character of the peninsula, claiming that this principle runs counter to the overarching vision of an “innovative, creative and cultural precinct and an engine room of the Harbour CBD.”
“Put simply, the intersection of these two principles would prevent The Star Sydney from contributing toward the economic optimisation and growth of the area,” the report notes. “We therefore question the balance between the delivery of ‘ridgetop village character’ and the ‘significant renewal [of sites at the] harbour edge’ with the other key design principles established in the Hassell Urban Design Strategic Framework, such as heights stepping down to the water and protecting the amenity of streets and spaces.”
When the state government released its draft place strategy in July, it raised concerns that the planning overhaul had resurrected the “zombie” casino tower proposal.
“The Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy must not become an exercise in retrofitting controls to justify the Star Casino’s inappropriate tower,” Sydney mayor Clover Moore said at the time.
In its submission on the draft place strategy, the City of Sydney argues that the key sites identified in the plan – such as The Star Casino – should not be treated as state significant and that the council should retain planning authority over the sites.
Some 135 submissions were made to the government on its place strategy document during a period of public consultation from 31 July to 13 September.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
