66 Phillip Street PARRAMATTA

Our win in the Design Excellence competition for a new workspace on the edge of the Parramatta River at 66 Phillip St. Overlooking the new Powerhouse Museum our proposal centred on three themes - the connection to the river -landscape and journey; the Relic - telling the stories of the past occupation and the relics left behind; new ideas of workspaces for small and medium sized business.

The jury described the proposal as “lyrical in architectural language with a podium design that is both welcoming and inviting through use of both hard and soft landscape treatments. The architectural language has naturalistic features. Lifting the building form above the heritage item and bringing this forward demonstrates careful attention to the three-dimensional characteristics of the site.”

The proposal is the commencement of a key link to the river from the city. It resounds as a threshold between the river and the city, and tells the story of a layered history - both indigenous and early European settler. It provides a place to reconcile the two.

The original 1840’s buildings on the site are relics of Parramatta’s early housing development - a dual occupancy. We re-tell the storey of the cottages and their lost backyards through the stepped podium base surrounded by gardens and vegetation. The garden setting is extended through the contemporary forms of the cottage’s historical backyard through connecting meandering landscaped terraces down to the river.

The workspaces are elevated above the ground - removing the office tower out of the field of vision from a person a ground level. Opening up the visual connections across the river.

Once we get above ground - it is about the new environments we are creating. But we don’t loose sight of where we have come from and where we are. Naturally ventilated workspaces open to 2 and 3 storey verandahs that overlook the river. Net Zero, and 6 star green star the work spaces are intimate and social - designed to allow small and medium sized practices the status of taking a whole floor. The daylight filled floor plates are well documented as contributing to the wellbeing, health and productivity of future occupants.

The facade is about moderating the climate - allowing natural ventilation when the conditions allow. The facade is function, controls the climate, generates energy and contributes to the beauty of the place.

Congratulations Alexandra Dawson , Joanne D. and the rest of the team. It was so much fun working on this together as always. Looking forward to making it a reality.

Visualisations Ross Caddaye

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