Sydney’s Quay Quarter Tower has been nominated for the 2025 edition of The Earthshot Prize, the world’s most high-profile and impactful environmental award.

The Earthshot Prize was launched in 2020 by HRH Prince William to recognise the most impactful and scalable solutions to the planet’s biggest environmental challenges.

Described as the world’s first fully upcycled skyscraper, this premium grade retrofitted office tower was named a finalist in the Build a Waste-Free World category for reimagining environmental, social, and urban transformation through large-scale reuse.

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One of Sydney’s iconic buildings and the tallest at its time of completion in 1976, Quay Quarter Tower was reimagined rather than demolished, retaining 65% of its original structure and 98% of its core. Led by a global team of architects, engineers, building contractors and developers, the building’s retrofitting saw the usable office space increasing from 45,000 to 102,000 sqm and capacity from 4,500 to 9,000 occupants while avoiding over 12,000 tonnes of embodied carbon.

Helmed by Danish architects 3XN alongside Australian executive partner BVN, engineers BG&E and Arup, and contractor Multiplex, Quay Quarter Tower’s transformation stands as a flagship example of how the construction industry can lead in climate action, in a sector responsible for over 40% of global waste and more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions[1]. While new construction continues at pace globally, the tower showcases energy-efficient retrofitting of older buildings as a scalable, cost-effective alternative to decarbonising the built environment.

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Managed by Dexus and jointly owned by Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, Mirvac Wholesale Property Fund, and Rest, the retrofit project was completed in 2022 and has since won multiple global accolades, including World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival; the International Highrise Award; and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s World Building of the Year.

With nearly 20% of global buildings needing low carbon retrofits by 2030[2], Quay Quarter Tower offers a replicable model of reuse, which is already influencing urban policy in Australia and inspiring similar sustainable developments worldwide.

This year’s 15 finalists were selected from nearly 2,500 nominees across 72 countries. The five winners of this year’s Prize will be chosen by the Earthshot Prize Council, chaired by Dame Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris Climate Accord, alongside members including Prince William, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Cate Blanchett, Indra Nooyi, José Andrés, Wanjira Mathai, Nemonte Nenquimo, Luisa Neubauer, Naoko Yamazaki, Ernest Gibson, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“As we reach the halfway point of the Earthshot decade, I am truly inspired by this year’s finalists, which embody the urgent optimism sitting right at the heart of our mission. In just five years, The Earthshot Prize has shown that the answers to our planet’s greatest challenges not only already exist, but that they are firmly within our grasp,” says Prince William, Founder and President of The Earthshot Prize.

Calling on designers, engineers and developers globally to embrace adaptive reuse as a cornerstone of sustainable urban transformation, Robert Saidman, NSW ACT Leader, Arup, says, “Quay Quarter Tower is a powerful demonstration of what’s possible when engineering ingenuity meets environmental responsibility. By transforming a 50-year-old structure into a high performance, future-ready workplace, we’ve shown that building reuse at scale is not only viable – it’s vital.”

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Design Lead and 3XN Australia Director Fred Holt describes the demolition cycle as one of the greatest threats to global climate goals.

“Quay Quarter Tower proves that transformation at significant scale is possible and, critically, commercially viable. We extended the life of a building by decades, halved its carbon impact, and created a more engaging workplace for thousands of people,” he observes.

“This recognition from The Earthshot Prize reinforces that regeneration must replace destruction as the new standard. We hope that our approach can help redefine urban development, offering a blueprint to meet low-carbon ambitions as our cities worldwide continue to grow,” he adds.

Winners of The Earthshot Prize will be announced at an awards ceremony in Rio on November 5, 2025.

References:

[1] https://www.unepfi.org/themes/climate-change/40-of-emissions-come-from-real-estate-heres-how-the-sector-can-decarbonize

[2] https://www.iea.org/reports/renovation-of-near-20-of-existing-building-stock-to-zero-carbon-ready-by-2030-is-ambitious-but-necessary

Images: Supplied

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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