A number of architects are calling for a halt to plans approved
for a 100,000-cubic metre ''void'' to be constructed beneath the new Barangaroo
headland in Sydney.
The NSW government has approved a new natural-looking headland
designed by the US landscape architect Peter Walker, with the next stage due a call
for tenders to build.
But a group of prominent architects have questioned the
decision-making process behind plans for a large shell, which is without any assigned
purpose, to be built above a two-storey underground carpark.
The state government's Barangaroo Delivery Authority told the
Sydney Morning Herald the space would suit a range of cultural uses, such as a
gallery, museum, performing arts space, artists' studios and education and
learning facilities.
Adding the space will cost $8 million and will have
''maximum flexibility'' for any fit-out.
However the newspaper reported that the planning decision had
“bewildered” some architects, such as Peter Webber, a former NSW government
architect and now emeritus professor of architecture at the University of
Sydney, who said it “would be nonsense to construct a space without knowing
what you are going to put inside it”.
An artist's impression of the headland park
According to the SMH, Webber has written a letter to the
Premier signed by more than 60 prominent urban planners and architects criticising
the proposed headland.
The architects include Richard Leplastrier, Peter
Stutchbury, Philip Cox, Penelope Seidler and David Chesterman and planners
include the former head of the Planning Department Richard Smyth and the
president of the Planning Institute, Tony McNamara.
Constructing a headland ''would not only destroy precious
water frontage but alienate a spectacular site which is ideally located to
serve the cultural and civic needs of our community for generations to come,''
the letter says.
The architects say the northern point is an ideal location
for a new theatre which should be built above ground to take advantage of the
location.
The group is seeking that the existing container wharf shape
be retained.
A two-day 'design review is scheduled to take place this
week, chaired by Shelley Penn, the Melbourne architect who co-authored the
government's review of the planning processes at Barangaroo.
Meanwhile, the government and developer Lend Lease are set to negotiate
moving a proposed hotel from water to land, which design team member, architect
Andrew Andersons, said will provide an opportunity to debate the site for a new
performance space for the city.
Image via the Sydney Morning Herald
