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London firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has completed a 34-storey office tower in Sydney with criss-crossing red braces on its sides and an elevated terrace cutting through its middle.

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners collaborated with Sydney firm Lippmann Partnership to design the tower for Australian real estate company Mirvac.

Located on Hunter Street in Sydney’s Central Business District, 8 Chifley comprises a pair of glass volumes that are separated by a triple-height private terrace on the eighteenth floor.

The structural framework extends to the exterior of the building. Red steel beams brace the walls on the sides of the tower, plus larger members offer support where there are gaps in the floor plates.

A five-storey-high void at the base of the tower creates a lofty public plaza leading to the entrance, while a landscaped roof offers another accessible outdoor space.

Spaces inside the building are divided into seven zones, each comprising a stack of three floors. There are openings between levels in these clusters, intended to encourage interaction amongst employees.

“[8 Chifley’s] emphasis on community, both indoors and out, from ground to roof, celebrates Australia’s passion for a balanced quality of life and the great outdoors,” said architect Ivan Harbour.

“The building finally forms a focus to Chifley Square, drawing the public plaza up to its front door and forming a great loggia for all Sydney-siders to enjoy,” he added.

Photography is by Brett Boardman.

Here’s more information from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners:

8 Chifley

8 Chifley is the Sydney Central Business District’s newest and most progressive commercial tower from Mirvac.

Dramatically different to anything seen before on the Sydney skyline, this 34-storey office building, is the product of a global collaboration between the internationally renowned UK architectural practice Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Australia’s Lippmann Partnership.

It is the first completed building in Australia featuring the distinctive design philosophy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners but remains a project very much of its place. The distinctive red bracing on the exterior of the building reveals the structural skeleton of 8 Chifley, combining structural efficiency, elegance, and most importantly highly functional space planning.

The building is made up of two stacked modules of 12 and nine floors, with seven ‘villages’ of three-storey communal workspaces, providing connectivity and vertical integration between the floors which create the feeling of extensive space. Central to the building’s sense of community is the elevated ‘village square’ on the 18th floor, set within a three-storey void. This area will provide a focal point for occupants of the building, allowing meeting and interaction within a light and airy space.

The building has been designed to make the most of its prominent, north-facing site, bounded by Elizabeth, Hunter and Phillip Streets. Its highly transparent façade, high ceilings and legible structure ensure the building enjoys open and unobstructed views out over the city and a sense of space and light within.

Perhaps the defining feature of the project is the six-storey open space at street level that not only forms a grand entrance to the building, but creates a new, significant area of public space which addresses and completes Chifley Square. The open space is repeated midway up the building and again at the top, integrating Australia’s outdoor lifestyle into the city’s work environment.

8 Chifley is also one of the greenest buildings in Sydney, it has achieved a 6 Star Green Star Office Design v2 certified rating representing “world leadership” in environmentally sustainable design and is committed to achieving a 5 Star NABERS Energy Rating. The design, is very specific to the climate and culture of Sydney. The result is a beautiful piece of architecture that enhances the public realm while providing occupants with wonderful internal spaces within which to develop working communities.

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Harbour + Partners appeared first on Dezeen.

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Long brick and wood volumes extend down the narrow plot of this house in Bondi, Sydney, by local architect Fearns Studio (+ slideshow).

While renovating a single-storey Victorian terrace, Fearns Studio filled the thin strip of land behind with a blackened wood cuboid on top of brick ground floor that’s painted white.

Under the pitched roof of the old house, a lounge faces the street and a bedroom behind is connected to a bathroom via a small courtyard.

These rooms are joined by a long corridor that leads from the front door to the large open-plan dining, kitchen and living area.

Ground-floor rooms are lit by skylights, as well as patio doors along the thin alleyway down one side of the house that leads to a courtyard.

“Skylight penetrations bring light into the centre of the plan, helping to define spaces within it,” said architect Matt Fearns.

Stairs behind one wall of the double-height dining space lead up to two more bedrooms, which both have a balcony and share a bathroom.

Kitchen units, tables and cupboard doors match the wooden window and door frames, which warm the neutral interior.

A guest bedroom and ensuite bathroom sit above a garage at the bottom of the garden.

More homes down under include a zinc-clad house with a sand dune-shaped body and a periscope-shaped extension to two terraced homes, plus we recently created a Pinterest board of all the best images of Australian houses.

Photographs are by Tom Ferguson.

See more Australian houses »
See more architecture and design in Sydney »

Read on for more information from the architect:

Bondi House by Fearns Studio

A renovation of an inner city, Victorian terrace house, the Bondi House was conceived as a first floor timber tube above a ground level brick box behind the retained portion of the house.

Skylight penetrations bring light into the centre of the plan, help define spaces within it and protect the privacy of neighbouring dwellings from upper level rooms while large glazed doors open new ground level interiors to unobtrusive garden courtyards.

Deep door reveals in the kitchen and living areas frame smaller spaces within the open plan with light and rhythm.

The doors themselves emphasise this further by sliding completely clear of their openings.

Warmth is given to the white plaster walls and ceilings and to concrete flooring with oak cabinetry, windows, doors and with blackbutt flooring through the remainder of the house.

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Fearns Studio appeared first on Dezeen.

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News: British firm Wilkinson Eyre Architects has won a competition to design a $1.5 billion hotel skyscraper on the harbourfront in Sydney, Australia.

The proposal by last year’s World Building of the Year winners beat submissions from international firm Kohn Pedersen Fox and Chicago practice Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which recently unveiled plans for Mumbai’s tallest tower.

The news comes two months after plans were announced for what will be Australia’s tallest building, a 388-metre-high tower in Melbourne, while last month British architect Grimshaw submitted plans for a 90-storey skyscraper in a suburb of Sydney.

Wilkinson Eyre’s planned 235-metre-tall skyscraper, located in the Barangaroo South area near Sydney Harbour Bridge, will be occupied by a six-star luxury hotel, The Crown Sydney Hotel Resort.

The winning design is inspired by nature, according to the architects. “Its curved geometry emanates from three petal forms which twist and rise together,” said Paul Baker, director at Wilkinson Eyre.

“The first petal peels off, spreading outward to form the main hotel room accommodation, with the remaining two twisting together toward the sky.”

Chris Wilkinson, director of Wilkinson Eyre, said: “My ambition is to create a sculptural form that will rise up on the skyline like an inhabited artwork, with differing levels of transparency, striking a clear new image against the sky.”

The building will contain around 350 guestrooms and suites, four restaurants, a day spa, rooftop pool and high-end shops.

Crown Resorts chairman James Packer said the building would be an “instantly recognisable” landmark for the city.

“Its iconic curves and fine lines celebrate the harbour and create an architectural ‘postcard’ that will help attract international tourists and assist Sydney to compete with other global destinations,” he said.

Wilkinson Eyre’s Gardens by the Bay tropical garden in Singapore was named World Building of the Year at last year’s World Architecture Festival, where we filmed an interview with the firm’s Chris Wilkinson.

Other projects by Wilkinson Eyre include a kilometre-long cable car over the river Thames in London and a PVC tent that hosted basketball during the London 2012 Olympics – see all architecture by Wilkinson Eyre.

Here’s some more information from Crown Resorts:

Crown announces Wilkinson Eyre Architects as the Winning Design for Crown Sydney Hotel Resort

Crown Resorts today announced that Wilkinson Eyre Architects had been successful as the winning design for the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort. The joint judging panel unanimously recommended the Wilkinson Eyre design to Crown, following an extended competition to design the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort at Barangaroo South on the city’s harbourfront.

The final three designs by internationally renowned architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, Kohn Pedersen Fox, and Wilkinson Eyre Architects were judged by a panel consisting of representatives from Crown Resorts, Lend Lease, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority and the NSW Department of Planning. All were praised for their professionalism and innovative designs. The firms presented their designs to the judges last week, and the panel made a formal recommendation to Crown on the suitability of each design and its ability to achieve the desired vision and outcomes for Barangaroo and Crown.

Crown Resorts Chairman, James Packer, thanked the judging panel and congratulated Wilkinson Eyre and its key architects Chris Wilkinson and Paul Baker. “Wilkinson Eyre have an incredible record of achievement and I am certain they will deliver Sydney an iconic building we can all be proud of. This great city deserves a building that is truly special and Wilkinson Eyre’s design delivers it. It’s a wonderful moment for Crown.”

Discussing the hotel’s iconic sculptural design, Mr Packer said: “When completed, Crown Sydney will be instantly recognisable around the world. Its iconic curves and fine lines celebrate the harbour and create an architectural ‘postcard’ that will help attract international tourists and assist Sydney to compete with other global destinations.”

On winning the design competition, Chris Wilkinson, Founding Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects stated: “Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and it is a great privilege to design such a significant building on the waterfront. My ambition is to create a sculptural form that will rise up on the skyline like an inhabited artwork, with differing levels of transparency, striking a clear new image against the sky.”

Paul Baker, Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects added: “The architecture takes its inspiration from nature, composed of organic forms that provide an abstract, sculptural shape; it does not try to mimic any particular plant or flower but is derived from the specificity of the site and the client brief. Its curved geometry emanates from three forms which twist and rise together. The first form peels off, spreading outward to form the main hotel room accommodation, with the remaining two twisting together toward the sky.”

Todd Nisbet, Crown’s Executive Vice President – Strategy & Development, said: “Wilkinson Eyre are world renowned for their sustainable and iconic designs and their great attention to detail. The Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is an absolute standout, becoming one of the most recognised tourism assets in the world and an iconic image that is instantly recognisable and linked to Singapore’s new identity as one of Asia’s most important gateway cities.”

In October 2012, Crown and Lend Lease invited a number of internationally acclaimed architects for their interest in participating in the Crown Sydney Hotel Architectural Design Competition. The brief to the architects stated: “Crown, Lend Lease and the Barangaroo Delivery Authority are seeking a bold and innovative design team to create Australia’s best hotel in Australia’s most exciting new precinct – a new landmark building on Sydney Harbour that will become a destination for international tourists and seekers of luxury.”

Subject to receipt of all necessary approvals and subject to finalisation of commercial arrangements between Crown, Lend Lease and the BDA, the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort will sit on the Lend Lease commercial site at the north western corner of Barangaroo South and will have approximately 350 guestrooms and suites. The typical guest rooms will be some of the largest in Australia and the suites and villas will rival the best in Asia. There will be four restaurants, a café, an ultra-lounge, day spa, roof top pool and luxury retail facilities.

On the planning and development processes to follow, Mr Nisbet, said: “The designs are a result of a design competition initiated by Crown and Lend Lease to select an architect for the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort and are not a formal part of the planning approval process. In the near future, Crown in collaboration with Lend Lease will engage in public consultation and seek approval from the Barangaroo Delivery Authority as landowner to lodge an application to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure for all necessary approvals.”

Lend Lease has an exclusive dealing agreement with Crown in relation to the development of the hotel resort at Barangaroo South and both parties are working towards final commercial arrangements. The Crown Sydney Hotel Resort Proposal is currently in Stage 2 of the NSW Government’s Unsolicited Proposal process.

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Sydney harbour skyscraper appeared first on Dezeen.