The Sydney Swans HQ project, designed by Populous, is a cutting-edge training and community facility located in Sydney’s historic Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park.

The project has been recognised for its excellence, receiving a Highly Commended mention in the Commercial Architecture (Large) category at the Sustainability Awards 2024.

The Populous team sits down with Architecture & Design’s Digital Editor Clémence Carayol to discuss their recognition.

Architecture & Design: Why do you think you were honoured for your entry?

Populous: Sydney Swans HQ was a project that presented many opportunities. One of these was the fact that The Royal Hall of Industries is a building of Heritage Significance. The characteristic red brick and the existing shell and structure of the project gave the design team an aesthetic to work with so we could put our thinking caps on and address the application of regenerative circular design and adaptive reuse. This included selecting materials and using installation processes that could enable reversibility. For example, the concrete slab system of the mezzanine floor was designed to be a separate structure from the existing building skin as well as prepared for deconstruction when required. The project demonstrated innovation in how you design for, and with a kit of parts, treat any new construction as a material bank where new elements are designed for reuse/new use/disassembly.

What did your entry add to the body of knowledge of sustainable design?

The project was subject to a State Significant Development Application, meaning several benchmarks had to be set to achieve the Development Consent conditions. This included achieving a minimum 5 Star Green Star rating. Being able to achieve this in a heritage refurbishment has significantly added to the knowledge and discussion on adaptive reuse and circularity: the decarbonisation of the design, construction and operations of the lifecycle of the built environment, protecting and enhancing biodiversity, and delivering social value, enhanced social cohesion, and economic benefit to local communities.

Has your entry influenced the way you will design buildings in the future?

Every project is a learning experience, a lesson for us. Further, what we take away from this and will apply to future projects is that we are constantly designing for legacy. What I mean by this is that our buildings are now resource repositories: so, the buildings we build now are going to become the buildings of the future, whether it be future use, future refurbishment, future adaptations. So, our job now is making it as easy as possible for the next architect, who will come in 30 years’ time, to design the next version of the future.

What this means is, we are collaborating with the future.

This category is sponsored by Network Architectural.

Image: Sydney Swans HQ by Populous.

Clémence Carayol

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