Three architecture practices – SJB, Durbach Block Jaggers (DBJ) and Curious Practice – have won the design competition for stages three and four of a mixed-use development for Newcastle’s East End.
The jury unanimously selected the winning design for its retention of Christ Church Cathedral as the city’s prominent landmark structure, as well as the inclusion of multiple public viewing corridors to the harbour, the integration of green space, and the distinct character allocated to each building.
SJB worked as executive architect on stage one of the four-stage project in the form of a masterplan back in 2013, working in collaboration with Durbach Block Jaggers and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer. SJB director Adam Haddow said the team was “over the moon” to collaborate with their peers to deliver the final stages of the project, which will include 235 dwellings across five buildings, as well as new retail space and public parking.
Newcastle East End is a combination of adaptive reuse and new builds that form the unique character of the city. The site has been divided based on “experience, expertise and scale”, SJB said, while forming a joint urban design strategy to realise the City of Newcastle’s “Harbour to Cathedral Park” plan to open up connections and view lines from the harbour foreshore and Hunter Street Mall to Cathedral Park.
Designs for Newcastle East End redevelopment stages three and four.
Image:
SJB, Durbach Block Jaggers and Curious Practice
“Our vision for the East End is rooted in a fine grain response that reimagines the retail offering and pedestrian activity of Hunter Street,” said Haddow. “The new public ‘market square’ has great potential to connect into council land, creating the link with Newcastle Christ Church Cathedral and the harbour, to become the centre of the East End.”
The winning design draws inspiration from existing Newcastle architecture as well as retains key heritage buildings, while bringing new life to the neglected centre. Three buildings will establish the marketplace precinct: the “block” of the heritage Municipal building, the “tower” behind, and the “stoa” forming the western edge.
The city’s lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said that Newcastle’s East End is transforming “before our eyes”, with architectural design excellence bringing “the history and heritage of this harbour precinct into the modern era”.
Building envelopes identified in stage one are shaped to provide a sympathetic context for existingbuildings, while plans to “hollow out” the central public heart will let in sunlight through a new laneway through the site.
SJB said that following “extensive research” into the built fabric of Newcastle, the team has designed buildings that retain the historical fabric while referencing the “nuance” of the surrounding city.
The redevelopment is anticipated to cost $880 million.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
