The Cox Architecture-designed office tower, located at 326-328 Botany Road, Alexandria, has been submitted to local council for planning approval.
Cox took out the design competition for the building, devising a building for a brief that called for a building that would contribute to the revitalisation of Green Square. McGregor Coxall were called upon to complete the landscape architecture design, with Indigenous engagement consultation carried out by Fulcrum Agency.
The project is estimated to cost approximately $44 million. The building, approximately 10 storeys in total, marries meaningful landscape with the latest innovations in workplace design. Based on the human scale, the building’s form features subtly curved brickwork.
A brick gradient helps tell the story of the site’s industrial heritage – recycled bricks line the base of the building, working their way up to bronze dry-pressed bricks at the top. The other facades serve a more environmental response, with the Western frontage featuring an operable louvred façade that allows daylight access during the morning and tilts in the afternoon to manage heat gain.
Four distinct ‘green moments’ have been created along a laneway through the site. The first is a green arbour to the entry of Botany Road. The second places hanging landscape to the bridge connections above the 10-storey open laneway atrium. The third is a generous landscape refuge named the ‘Lee’ that provides a space for respite.
Lastly, Cox placed a deep soil zone to the south that includes water sensitive urban design in a contemplative setting.
The recognition and acknowledgement of local Indigenous culture is imperative to the design. Working alongside Indigenous engagement consultants The Fulcrum Agency, the practice has underlined the importance Botany Road has to the Gadigal people. The Botany Road – Regent Street path that stretches from Botany Bay to Sydney is a key road in the ‘return to our Indigenous pathways’ planning approach to Greater Sydney.
The development application is able to be viewed via public exhibit until August 13.