An ornate government-owned and occupied Sydney building associated with colonial architect James Barnet will be redeveloped into a hotel with a soaring tower cantilevering over it.
The proposal, with concept designs from FJMT, comes from Built and Irongate Group, who submitted an unsolicited proposal to redevelop the historic Former Public Works Department at 50 Phillips Street in 2017.
The developers own the site next door at 52 Phillip Street, and hope to amalgamate the two sites, adaptively re-using the historic building and delivering a 47-storey tower, with 331 hotel beds. A state-significant development application is now before the planning department.
The former Department of Public Works Building is as an extension to James Barnett’s Chief Secretary’s Building, a state-heritage listed building in the Victorian Free Classical style. It has been occupied by a range of government departments since it was built.
50 and 52 Phillips Street proposal by FJMT.
FJMT describes in planning documents how the design will seek to preserve and celebrate the character of the heritage building.
“The new slender tower will provide a clear separation from the existing heritage building so that the facades, roofscape and building form remain clearly legible,” the architects state.
The proposal consists of three major components: the adaptive reuse of 50 Phillip Street, a new podium infill building at 52 Phillip Street and a new tower at 52 Phillip Street which will partially cantilever over 50 Phillip Street.
“The new infill podium at 52 Phillip Street will reinforce the scale and material quality of the heritage facadesof 121 Macquarie Street, 50 Phillip Street and of the Intercontinental hotel on the north side of Bridge Street,” states FJMT “Itwill also provide a similar scale and material character toPhillip Lane to the South.”
Built CEO Brett Mason, said the development represented a unique opportunity to give the historic buildings new life. “Our plans for a luxury hotel mixed-use development will do this while preserving the important history of 50 Phillip Street that reflect the unique nineteenth century architecture of the former NSW colony,” he said. “This history will be restored, conserved and opened to the people of NSW in our development for the first time.”
Source: Architecture - architectureau
