The Barangaroo Delivery Authority has reopened bids for the design and delivery of the final piece of what will be one of Australia’s premier harbourside precincts.

Situated between the commercial hub of Barangaroo South and the recently opened Barangaroo Reserve, the 5.2 hectare Central Barangaroo is now subject to a new tendering process on the back of recent plans from the NSW Government to develop a Sydney Metro Station at the site.

Barangaroo Central will complete the sweep of experiences along the 22 hectare waterfront location and has been redivided to incorporate 2.2 hectares of B4 Mixed Use development and 3.2 hectares of RE1 Public Recreation as well as the new Barangaroo Central Sydney Metro station.

The new look Barangaroo Central re-enters the development tender process with an increased maximum commercial floorspace, now at 150,000sqm compared to 120,000sqm at the last tender in 2014, and new objectives aligned with the scheduled metro station.

It has been divided into commercial and public sections with the successful bidder to develop both and be granted a 99-year lease on the commercial property.

The design will need to align with the principles and objectives established in the master plan prepared by Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) and impress a design advisory panel  consisting of Bob Nation AM, Karl Fender (Fender Katsalidis Architects), Keith Cottier (Allen Jack + Cottier) and Richard Nugent (Connybeare Morrison International).

Specifically the Authority requires bids to:

a) Preserve more than half of Central Barangaroo as public domain

b) Maintain the existing development footprint and be consistent with the principles of the master plan for Central Barangaroo prepared by US firm, Skidmore Owings & Merrill

c) Explore below-ground opportunities that make best use of the Metro station

d) Consider world-class proposals for the development of no more than 150,000sqm of aboveground gross floor area

e) Maintain other elements of the Central Barangaroo design including:

  • Wulugul Walk, the continuous 30m-wide public foreshore that connects all of Barangaroo
  • A network of laneways ensuring pedestrian and vehicular accessibility
  • A commitment to provision of civic, community and cultural spaces
  • The Sydney Steps
  • Preservation of views from Observatory Hill to the horizon and the harbour

Bidders are also required to meet the precinct’s Climate Positive ambition and will need to include in the provision of on-site renewable energy generators to offset the power requirements of:

a) The public domain spaces

b) Barangaroo Reserve, excluding the Cutaway space

c) District infrastructure, including recycled water treatment and harbour heat rejection plant

RELATED BARANGAROO
Barangaroo judging panel bowled over by emerging architectural firm
Wilkinson Eyre drawings reveal the inspiration behind Crown Hotel
Rogers Stirk Harbour’s Barangaroo South tower tops out
Fly through new Barangaroo South concept plans
The numbers behind the newly opened Barangaroo Reserve

Bids will close 29 February 2016 ahead the announcing of a shortlist of preferred bidders at the end of March 2016. Executive development agreements are expected to round up in June 2016 and the first section of the project is slated for completion in December 2019.

For more information see the NSW eTendering site or see the Request for Development Bids document here.

Images: Barangaroo Delivery Authority