An aerial visualisation of Central Park
Frasers Property Australia has gained approval for the second residential stage at the $2 billion Central Park development in Sydney’s downtown CBD.
NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly yesterday granted approval for a pair of buildings designed by Richard Johnson of Johnson Pilton Walker.
The consent covers the $96 million construction of 319 residential apartments and retail floor space, within the nine and 20 storey buildings. It also includes stratum subdivision of the buildings.
The buildings are situated along the eastern edge of Central Park’s main park. They have a gross realisation of approximately $310 million.
The approved Richard Johnson building
Richard Johnson is a Sydney-based architect, known for designing public monuments such as the Canberra National Portrait Gallery and the Asian wing of the Art Gallery of NSW.
The Richard Johnson buildings - as yet unnamed - feature a theatrical faced and abundant landscape. The facades are composed of sliding glass screens of various sizes, colours and textures, presenting a theatrical face to the park, and concealing functional loggias spaces attached to each apartment.
The building form itself is ‘fractured’ to create light wells, elevated neighbourhood gardens and walkways that are connected by external landscaped stairs.
Green walls will grow alongside open stairs, encouraging the use of stairs by residents on lower levels and beautifying the facades.
A new laneway will be created between the two buildings with deep soil planting allowing large-scale trees and human-scale underplanting. Deep planters in elevated landscaped communal gardens provide opportunities for residents to participate in communal gardening.
Currently, excavation of the common basement beneath One Central Park and the Richard Johnson buildings is nearing completion. Work has already commenced on the precinct’s 6500sqm public park — due for completion in early first quarter 2011 — and supporting road and services infrastructure.
Frasers Property Australia managing director Dr Stanley Quek says his team is “well on our way to realising our vision to create a true urban village at Central Park, with brilliant architecture, verdant gardens and vibrant streets to regenerate the community and integrate it into the creative city.”
Central Park will use on-site tri-generation of power with the goal of carbon neutrality in operation, as well as a water recycling and blackwater treatment plant and passive solar design.
According to Dr Quek, the approval adds further impetus to a development which is progressing rapidly. The first residential stage, ‘One Central Park’, was successfully released to the market in August, with over 60 per cent sold to date.
“This approval of the second residential stage at Central Park enables Frasers to launch a new offering into a market clearly demonstrating a high demand for this quality and style of housing.
“With the evidence of sales so far achieved, we’re confident we have a winning combination of high demand from the market plus an underlying shortage of well-designed properties in a desirable urban location,” he added.
Frasers plan to release the Richard Johnson buildings to the market in second quarter 2011.
For more information visit www.centralparksydney.com
