Seven new buildings have been added to this year’s Sydney Open program.
Joining 63 of Sydney’s most historic and architecturally inspiring buildings will be 200 George Street, Hassell’s Sydney studio, Macquarie Group at No. 1 Martin Place, One Margaret Street, The Calyx, Two International Towers, Barangaroo, and Arup Studios and Workshop.
Now in its 12th year, Sydney Open gives Sydneysiders and visitors a behind-the-scenes look at some of the city’s most loved buildings and hidden architectural treasures, with this year’s program focusing on the Sydney CBD, The Rocks, Walsh Bay and Barangaroo.
Sydney Open 2016 will take place on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 November. For tickets and further information click here.
The seven new buildings:
EY Centre by Richard Francis-Jones, Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT)
Image: Sydney Open
When: 6 November, 10am – 4pm
Where: 200 George Street, Sydney
Opened in June 2016, Mirvac’s 200 George Street, known as EY Centre, is one of a new breed of skyscrapers designed to make a more considered contribution to both streetscape and skyline.
The building design by architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT) rejects the ‘cold metallic box’ in favour of warm overlapping rounded towers, with the building’s timber and glass facade emitting a golden glow.
Hassell by Hassell (2013)
Image: Hassell
When: 6 November, 10am – 4pm
Where: Level 2, Pier 8/9, 23 Hickson Road, Sydney
Hassell has its Sydney studio over three levels of a historic wharf at Walsh Bay. Built in 1912, Pier 8/9 is the most westerly of five heritage-listed wharves on Hickson Road, Millers Point.
The studio is natural and neutral in its colours and finishes, a ‘blank-canvas’ that showcases the pier’s robust industrial fabric. Out of this distinctive studio environment, important civic works are developed such as the gleaming new International Convention Centre Sydney, designed in collaboration with Populous, currently nearing completion at Darling Harbour.
Macquarie Group at No. 1 Martin Place by Buchan Group Architects (1999), Lucas Stapleton Johnson (heritage conservation), and Rod Pindar, Fitzpatrick and Partners (2016)
Image: Macquarie
When: 6 November, 10am – 4pm
Where: 1 Martin Place, Sydney
The GPO, designed by Colonial Architect, James Barnet, was completed in stages between 1866 and 1891 – when its clock tower was finally added. It would be the tallest civic structure in the city. Straddling 114 metres along Martin Place, it also remains one of the largest sandstone buildings in New South Wales.
In 2016 architects Fitzpatrick + Partners completed a refurbishment of levels 1-7 for Macquarie Group where they cut through concrete floors to connect each level using the visual theatre of an Escher-like staircase within a seven-storey atrium.
One Margaret Street by Nicholas Kaspareck, Design Manager and Girvan Waugh
Image: Sydney Open
When: 6 November, 10am – 4pm
Where: 1 Margaret Street, Sydney
One Margaret Street is an 18-level commercial tower that occupies a prominent corner on the doorstep of Barangaroo, Sydney’s new commercial precinct. On level 5 is DEXUS Place, a research-driven project that combines a number of essential business facilities and services into an extended company workspace for hire.
Designed by Girvan Waugh, this hybrid of office and hotel-style environments comprises purpose-designed rooms for meetings, training, conferences, special events and market research. Flexible room configurations, concierge, catering services and multi-modal technology provide a service ‘infrastructure’.
The Calyx by Troy Uleman, PTW Architects
Image: Urban Developer
When: 6 November, 10am – 4pm
Where: Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
A calyx is the cluster of sepals forming the outer whorl of a flower that protects the petals and the blooming bud. It is also the name of the newly completed world-class horticultural attraction at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, commissioned as the centrepiece of the Garden’s 200th Birthday celebrations.
Opened in June 2016, The Calyx is designed to house themed exhibitions and events. A collaboration between PTW Architects, McGregor Coxall and Cockram Construction, the multifaceted structure nestles into the base of Ken Woolley’s 1987 Arc Greenhouse, expanding its circular geometries into an abstract botanical form.
Two International Towers, Barangaroo by Sir Richard Rogers, Ivan Harbour, Graham Stirk, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Image: Barangaroo South
When: 6 November, 10am – 3pm
Where: 200 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo
Within Sydney’s newest commercial precinct of Barangaroo, Tower Two, International Towers, is the middle of three towers designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
A hybrid of world-leading sustainability and workplace design, Tower Two innovates with: high-performance solar shading facades, improved indoor air quality with 100 per cent fresh air during business hours; and ‘vertical villages’ – a series of flexible, airy and connected spaces between levels designed to encourage a sense of community within the building.
Arup Studios and Workshop by Ninotschka Titchkosky, BVN
Image: BVN
When: 6 November, 10am – 4pm
Where: Level 9, 201 Kent Street, Sydney
Since 2015, the Sydney office of consulting engineers Arup, has been a pilot study in workplace design. Staff and clients are involved in an experiment aimed at producing the optimal design for the new Arup offices at 151 Clarence Street, due for completion in 2018.
Arup worked with BVN architects to refurbish around one-quarter of its current 5,536m 2 premises, and turn it into an experimental ‘lab’. Operations are split into a studio workshop and a new Activity Based Working (ABW) ‘neighbourhood’, with Arup University (its research and learning group) at the centre of the studio.
