Street Level Australia’s Sydney is Beautiful design competition birthed a number of entries submitted from 13 national and international practices, for a government-owned strip of land on Woolloomooloo’s William Street.
Spanning over 3,000 sqm, the winning entry from Sydney’s M.J.Suttie envisions a seven-storey, neoclassical sandstone building that fronts William Street. The ambitious project additionally turns Palmer Street into a pedestrian thoroughfare, which would run towards the domain and meet a new public plaza and the Institute of Traditional Urbanism.
“There’s a clear understanding of what the block is and what the street is,” says Blind Jury Member Richard Economakis, from Indiana’s University of Notre Dame in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s a good height for William Street. It incorporates an inner open space, the courtyard and proposes the same sort of system going forward for filling in the urban fabric.”
While Minister for Cities Rob Stokes was in attendance for the unveiling of the winners, the competition was not endorsed by the state government. Street Level Australia Founder, Milly Main, says the organisation’s aim is to generate conversation about creating truly beautiful places within metropolitan areas.
“Part of the holdup and the tension is that new density is 99 percent of the time horrifically ugly. We’ve got a political problem because nobody wants the density to be near them,” she says
“Imagine if we could take our cues from Paris or cities that have actually planned beautiful places at a precinct level. If we want density to happen we cannot keep opening up the vacuum to this crappy development. We need to think about beauty to solve sprawl.”
Winston Grant-Preece was awarded second prize for a more Sydney-centric entry, while the UK’s ADAM Architecture and US’ Historical Concepts both picked up commendations. Dominic Perrottet’s personal favourite was designed by current Sustainability Awards winner, Hector Abrahams Architects.
The entries in the Sydney is Beautiful competition are on public exhibition at Glebe Town Hall from 9am to 12pm on Wednesday.
