Harbourside vision closer to reality as construction commences

Design collaborators Snøhetta + Hassell have won an international competition to transform Harbourside, a retail development spanning over 240 metres of Sydney’s waterfront at Darling Harbour.

Seven months after retailers moved out, and bulldozers rolled in, construction on Mirvac’s massive mixed-use complex comprising shops, offices, and a 42-storey apartment tower started on Thursday. ​“The new Harbourside will reimagine the Darling Harbour waterfront, reconnect the people and places of Pyrmont, and create a network of new public spaces to bring together community, visitors, residents and workers,” said Mirvac’s chief executive of development, Stuart Penklis, who hails the project project as the ​“critical missing piece” in the NSW government’s $15 billion overhaul of the harbour front west of the CBD. Read the full article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Once the scaffolding has been cleared and the new developments are opened, Sydney’s western waterfront is forecast to generate $6.2 billion for the local economy, the Business Improvement District says. The design by Oslo-based Snøhetta and Hassell Studio features a five-storey shopping centre with 87,000 square metres of gross floor area, 45,000 sq m of which will be commercial and retail space and 42,000 sq m of residential in a 166-metre-high tower with 350 apartments. There will also be extensive public space for entertainment and recreation. Read more in the Sydney Morning Herald. Image: Mirvac.

The challenge was to reinvent one of Australia’s most visited public places – the Darling Harbour precinct in central Sydney.

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Archdaily

“From tired to top-tier travel hub”. The Australian has singled out our reimagining of Harbourside Shopping Centre in collaboration with Oslo-based Snøhetta as one of three city-shaping projects that will define the future of Sydney, Australia. The $2bn multi-use redevelopment includes retail and commercial areas and a new entertainment quarter.

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