Plans have been revealed for a mixed-use development in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria, to be designed following an architectural competition held by developer HPG Australia. The successful project will complement the City of Sydney’s $11.2-million plan to revitalise the post-industrial site of Sydney Park.
The site proposed for the HPG development is an “underutilised corner” to the south-east of the park. Currently, the site holds a 7,000-square-metre empty warehouse, which formerly functioned as the administration building of construction company, KONE.
HPG will be lending the warehouse space to Sydney Fringe Festival for the 2017 program, after which it will make way for the proposed mixed-use development.
“Now that we have received DA approval for the site, we'll work towards the official announcement of an architectural design competition. We will ensure the winning design outcome pays homage to the park,” says HPG’s managing director, Adrian Liu.
“Our intent is to bring the best elements of the park into a built form. We plan to provide 1.5 hectares of our site as open public space as an extension of the parkland. This green space will be designed to ensure the park integrates well with the built form, along with the rest of the site.”
Current planning proposals for the site will allow the proposed development to span 1,300 square metres and contain approximately 450 apartments across a series of six-storey buildings. According to HPG, the architectural competition will ensure all buildings are sensitively designed, and allow for the permeation of parkland into the development’s open spaces.
When complete, the development will have direct borders with Sydney Park on three sides. It is slated to be Sydney’s only inner-city residential community to adjoin a large-scale park environment.
According to Mike Horne, founder of Turf Design Studio and the landscape architect engaged by City of Sydney to lead the Sydney Park regeneration program, the mixed-use project will be a positive contribution to the evolution of the area.
“So much work has been done over the last twenty or so years to transform the Sydney Park site from its former post-industrial past into the 44 hectares of parkland we see today,” he says.
“Through this ongoing evolution, it’s become a vital living and breathing asset for Sydney’s growing residential communities. The development planned by HPG Australia will be another step in this transformation.”
The planned architectural design competition will be open to both local and international practices. Construction on stage one of the Sydney Park regeneration project is anticipated to commence in early 2018.
