A development application has been submitted to the City of Sydney for a Bates Smart-designed building on Sydney’s Liverpool Street.
The proposal is for the demolition of an existing commercial building at 175 Liverpool Street and for the construction of two 36-storey mixed-use towers separated by a through-site link and a new public open space.
Bates Smart said its aim is to “build respectfully and quietly” in the existing context overlooking Hyde Park and the ANZAC War Memorial by providing a “complementary backdrop” to the iconic landmarks.
The design intends to respect the axial symmetry of the War Memorial through the design of a pair of identical towers framing the Memorial axis.
Bates Smart said the site sits within two disparate urban conditions: the symmetry and order of the park and Art Deco war memorial, and the gritty urbanism of the Surry Hill laneways and warehouses. The building will use a recessive palette of precast concrete and brickwork with bronze detailing, recalling the memorial’s “stately materiality and paired-back simplicity”.
The ‘urban room’ is a covered public open space and a through-site link between the two towers.
Image:
Bates Smart
The building will include 289 apartment units, 812 square metres of retail space, and 10,098 square metres of commercial space to be located within the lower six levels of the tower.
The design team includes Aspect Studios who are collaborating on the creation of the large rooftop terraces and the covered public through-space. The proposal also includes the renewal of an existing pocket of park to the south of the site, as well as domain upgrades to the adjoining street.
Stage one of the development application was approved in October 2020 and Bates Smart was unanimously selected the winner of a City of Sydney design excellence competition in February 2022.
The development application is on exhibition on the City of Sydney website.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
