The final piece of the Barangaroo South development has hit planning as three luxury residential high-rise towers with reflecting crystalline facades.
While it’s been widely known for some time now that Italian architect, Renzo Piano would be providing the design, this is the first detailed look at the Pritzker Laureate’s second Sydney project.
The three towers are consolidated under the same One Sydney Harbour address and besides their size, are much the same in terms of their shape, look and material palette.
The triangular towers will be located at the northern-most point of the $6 billion Barangaroo South development and are planned for the south of the allocated site, overlooking the yet-to-be-developed - and new-look - Hickson Park.
The One Sydney Harbour towers will be situated at the southern end of the site in close proximity to the International Towers, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. The towers will overlook Hickson Park to the north.
The development will provide 775 new apartments to the Barangaroo precinct which is expected to accommodate 23,000 office workers and residents and attract up to 33,000 visitors per day once completed.
They’ll be spread across a 72-storey building comprising 327 apartments, a 60 storey building comprising 297 apartments and a smaller 29 storey building comprising 151 apartments.
The apartments are to be pitched to the luxury end of residential market and as such they’ve been designed with a focus on uninterrupted views. Glass is floor-to-ceiling, but these are no ordinary facades.
HIGH PERFORMANCE FACADES
All towers will be wrapped in a low iron glazing and feature one of two main façade types, designed to manage thermal loads and access to daylight for apartments. Open cavity facades fit with inner-cavity automated roller blinds will provide a heat and light buffering effect for apartments at window points, while glass-protected wintergardens/balconies are planned at other parts of the building for the same reason.
The outermost glazed layers of the facades will not touch, instead they’ll appear as three separate wings hovering off the sides of the building and accentuated by a deep “notch” between each elevation.
SUSTAINABILITY
As part of developer Lendlease’s sustainability plans for the precinct, the architects are targeting a 5-star Green Star Multi Unit Residential Design and As-Built rating from the Green Building Council of Australia for all buildings.
Besides connecting up to the Barangaroo precinct’s sea water cooled District Cooling Plant and recycled water plant, the architects emphasised the buildings’ high performance façade as integral to them reaching the target.
They’re expecting the façade to effectively manage thermal loads and, through use of a variety of openings for natural ventilation, minimise the reliance on mechanical heating and cooling. During times of peak heating and cooling, residents can use variable flow fan coil units to provide cooling from the District Cooling Plant and heating from a gas fired heating hot water plan within each building.
LED’s are expected to be utilised throughout the building and solar photovoltaic systes are proposed on the roof or the upper facades of the building.
PUBLIC REALM
All towers are footed by retail podiums and spill out onto Hickson Park. Openings between the towers are designed to encourage the commercial centre of Barangaroo to use the public park and landscaped spaces.
One Sydney Harbour is currently on public exhibition with the NSW Department of Planning.
Images: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
