Sydney developer HPG has announced the architects for their $700-million One Sydney Park development. Following a “rigorous” design competition that was held in collaboration with the Central Sydney Planning Committee, four firms have been announced as the winning consortium: architects MHN Design Union (MHNDU), Silvester Fuller for exterior architecture, sue barnsley design for landscape architecture, and the UK-based interior design team at Make Architects.
According to HPG development director, Barney Oros, the winning designs were selected for their holistic approach to the 2.1-hectare site, which will hold approximately 400 apartments across eight individual buildings.
“The winning architects have been selected based on their design vision, which exceeded HPG’s expectations and presented a design of which any global city would be proud to boast, and yet is distinctly Australian,” says Oros.
In a joint statement released by MHNDU, Silvester Fuller and sue barnsley design, the consortium described their winning concept as “a place which will extend the ecology of the parkland and support a culture of creative enterprises and local business”.
“Our concept vision for One Sydney Park imagines the creation of a new, park-side community. The park is invited into the site as a folded, layered and diverse landscape with a new public plaza, connected to the park and complementary in its amenity.
“A recognition of the contextual diversity of this place has informed the architectural language, resulting in park-side buildings [that] feather at [the] edges, dissolving the boundary between building and landscape.
“A rare opportunity to rethink subterranean spaces has created an arrival level suffused with natural light, fresh air and a rich materiality. The volume of this space [will allow] for diverse uses and future flexibility.”
In a separate statement, Tracey Wiles, head of interiors at Make Architects, spoke about the interior palette of natural timbers, marble and stone being a direct result of the site’s nature-heavy and deeply Australian context.
“There was an abundance of inspiration when developing the narrative to the interiors concept for One Sydney Park,” says Wiles.
“The natural landscape [provided] an exemplary panoramic of Australian beauty. The faultless juxtaposition of blue skies with a dappled foreground of grey gums naturally [casts] an intricate network of shadows across what will be the view, the front garden, the escape to residents of this carefully considered new community.
“When designing the interiors, the primary driver was without question that the design had to complement the beauty of the surroundings. [This informed] the design detail and specification materials. The use of natural timbers, marble and stone [expresses] the natural materiality of the park.”
Three other architectural teams submitted designs for the One Sydney Park project: Architectus with Turf Design Studio; Make Architects with ASPECT Studios; and Woods Bagot with McGregor Coxall. HPG managing director, Adrian Liu, says he is confident that any one of the competing architects could have delivered on the vision for One Sydney Park.
“Our team was meticulous in determining which architectural teams we would invite to submit concept designs for such a monumental and important future Sydney landmark,” says Liu.
“To be honest, we would have gladly working with any of the four competing architects; they represent the cream of Australian design talent.
“We are confident the team with the winning submission will deliver a precinct which both new residents and the local community will become proud of and embrace wholeheartedly as their own.”
Once complete, One Sydney Park will be the only residential community development in inner-Sydney to connect to a large-scale park environment. In addition to three park-facing frontages, the design will interact with its natural surroundings – which comprises 44 hectares of park and wetlands – by inviting it into the development through sensitive landscaping components.
At this stage, it is unclear when construction will commence on the project.
