Carter Williamson Architects has been named the winner of the Design Excellence Competition for 188 George Street, Parramatta, with the design proposal drawing praise from the jury for its clarity and ambition.

Standing 55 storeys tall and offering 302 apartments, the tower redefines high-rise residential living in the city. The award-winning firm’s design was selected for its strong civic presence, generous public domain and carefully considered response to place, Country and community.

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Located between George Street and the Parramatta River, the project is much more than a residential tower: Public life is prioritised at the ground level with street activation from high-end hospitality offerings, landscaped through-site links and strong pedestrian connections to the river. The building’s architectural form, public realm, and surrounding landscape are designed to return space to the city, strengthening Parramatta’s profile as an emerging civic and cultural hub.

According to the jury, a new building at the site “has the potential to achieve landmark status and make a significant contribution to the future image of the Parramatta CBD”.

The proposal was also commended for its environmental performance, the quality of its residential amenity and its sensitive response to the adjacent heritage-listed Harrisford House.

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The win reinforces the studio’s belief that tall buildings must deliver tangible civic value, observes Principal Shaun Carter.

“This project is about what density can give back,” Carter says. “We saw this as an opportunity to shape a building that strengthens the public realm, creates places for people to gather and connects the city to the river. Winning the competition is a strong endorsement of an approach that puts public life, care and craft at the centre of tall residential design.”

According to Co-Principal Ben Peake, the project demonstrates how environmental performance and liveability can shape architecture at scale.

“From the outset, we focused on homes that feel calm, light-filled and connected to climate and place. The slender form allows for excellent daylight, natural cross ventilation and outlook, while the ground plane becomes a shared civic space. It is a model for how high-rise housing can be both generous and deeply rooted in its context.”

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The proposal’s contribution to Parramatta’s public realm was a defining factor in its selection, with the jury acknowledging the project’s ability to strengthen pedestrian movement and civic activity beyond the site boundary. Rather than treating the ground plane as residual space, the scheme establishes a network of active edges, through-site links and river connections to extend the life of George Street and draw people towards the Parramatta River.

Capitalising on its unique riverside location, the project promises future residents direct access to the foreshore and proximity to the express RiverCat ferry, linking Parramatta seamlessly to Sydney Harbour.

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Working alongside Carter Williamson Architects on 188 George Street was a multidisciplinary team including Land and Form (landscape architecture), Prism Facades (facade design), Finding Infinity (environmental sustainability), garigarra (Connecting with Country) and Choi Render (visualisations). The competition process was facilitated by Planning Ingenuity.

The winning scheme will now progress through the next stages of design development.

Visualisations: Supplied

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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