A new building has been completed on College Street Sydney, the first for over twenty years, the architecture for the 25-storey ‘Residence’ inspired by nearby heritage buildings.

Sitting opposite the Australian War Memorial, it will be the first privately owned building along the thoroughfare, which links the heritage architecture of the Opera House, and State Libraries, the New South Wales Parliament House, St. James Church and Hyde Park Barracks.

Scott Carver Architect designed the Residence to be a building with ‘a calm and dignified presence, with contextual references’.

The aim was also to set new guidelines for architectural redevelopment for the south eastern end of Hyde Park.

The designers say that until the construction of the Residence the ambience of the area has been dominated by the depressing legacy of an arc of brutal or bland 1970s concrete towers in which there has been no acknowledgement of cultural context within their design.

The architects outline their contextual references within the Residence design that relate to the heritage architectural features of buildings aligned on the Opera House — War Memorial Axis:

“The division of the Residence into two slender wings creates an elegant spatial form, an implied gateway that reflects the twin spires of St Mary’s Cathedral. From the Residence a direct line of sight view to the Harbour passes through the St Mary’s spires, over the NSW Parliament House, and the State Libraries to a view of the two shells of the Opera House - this dual form for the towers generates a sense of connectivity between the Residence and all the buildings that sit along the axis between it and the Opera House, thereby promoting its inclusion within this powerful cultural and political meridian of the city.

The Podium of the Residence, like the other buildings of significance on the College and Macquarie Street axis, is hewn from Hawkesbury Sandstone — this material connects the Residence unequivocally with the family of major heritage buildings on the axis.

The five story Podium height of the Residence is scaled to the same as that of the Australian Museum — this is a visual link to the Museum design which reinforces the building’s connection to the local design context. Higher than Sydeny Grammar School, the Podium shares a civic stature that is correctly scaled to the width of College Street.

The columns within the Podium of the Residence are slightly curved towards the street, reflecting the entasis on the pilasters of the Australian Museum — this visual link reinforces in a contemporary way the building’s link to the neo-classical design of the College Street façade of the Museum. This is one of many features of the exterior perimeter design, including balconies and portals that articulate a lively spatial design and visual movement significantly enhancing the pedestrian experience.

The Podium of the Residence is divided into 6 bays — this reflects the grain of the original subdivision of the land with the bulk of the Podium reinstating the scale of the 6 large terraces that first occupied the site.

Podium of the Residence steps down the hill in the manner of the Sydney Grammar buildings — this design link politely and intimately reinforces the connectivity of the Residence design to that of the adjoining architecture while promoting a sense of belonging to the neighbourhood.

The projection depth of the Residence’s Podium matches the depth of the adjoining Sydney Grammar school wings — this design form picks up on that of the adjoining architecture, reinforcing its connectivity and visual design flow on the street to the neighbouring building.

The design of the building’s urban verandas on the west, square on to the ANZAC War Memorial — this discrete and silent gesture pays homage to the orientation of the ANZAC War Memorial .The emphasis on the horizontality of the balconies creates a dynamic visual form that liberates the building from being read against the punched-hole facades of the its 1970s neighbours.”