Hassell design competition win set to revitalise George Street in The Rocks, Sydney

Our concept for transforming the northernmost end of Sydney’s historic George Street has won a NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure design competition.

For millennia, George Street was a well-trodden track leading to the edge of Sydney Harbour. Tallawoladah, also known as The Rocks, was a flat spot overlooking the crystal-clear waters of Warrane, the First Nations name for Sydney Cove. It was a gathering place.

Our winning design will re-establish George Street north as a place of gathering and free movement, a place for people. The street canvas will be designed to allow city life to play out and to give this place its identity while celebrating and reinforcing the clarity and rhythm of the street.

“We imagine this as one of Sydney’s great city public spaces — it’s not a park, a promenade, or a square — it is George Street, The Rocks. It will have its own unique identity and purpose.”

— Sharon Wright, Head of Design, Hassell

Photography: Maurizio De Mattei