The site sits on Gadigal land in Waterloo, on what was historically a network of wetlands and waterways, and later an industrial site for Sydney Water’s Central Workshops. The pump and valve houses remain, but everything else was demolished in the 1990s.
The project was awarded to Fieldwork, in collaboration with MHNDU, through a Design Excellence Competition commissioned by the City of Sydney in 2019. Our design starts with the specified building envelope, then carving into it to allow for natural light, articulation and planning for small communities. The first cuts follow the major Sydney Water easements that cross the site, defining the public realm and through-site links. From there, the massing is shaped by two moves. First, a series of rippled façade profiles – referencing water erosion on a cliff face – that break down the building’s scale. Secondly, a central void carved through level one creates the oculus, which connects visually to the heritage plaza and landscaped levels above. This central moves allows for light to permeate into the deep ground floorplate.
The pair of buildings wrap around the heritage Pump Houses and a newly formed public plaza. The ground plane is porous and active, with retail tenancies focused on a market-style offer of local food and casual dining – all spilling out into the plaza and designed to support festivals, markets and community events.
At the podium level, a raised landscaped courtyard – the oasis – sits at the heart of Bourke St North and is planted with lush, shade-resistant species. Every apartment is designed with a view to nature, and this central green space serves as the primary outlook for apartments that don’t face the park. Threatened Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub species and hardy indigenous edge plants populate planters across the façade.
Along Bourke Street and the podium, the façade is red brick with punched window openings. Windows along Bourke St are positioned to buffer traffic noise and pollution, with living spaces and balconies oriented west to the podium landscape. Passive ventilation stacks draw clean air from the podium side, allowing natural cross-ventilation without opening to the road. Red brick was selected to reference the Interwar Free Classical architecture neighbouring the Pump House.
The 31-storey tower rises from a solid brick base, a textured terracotta form, smoothed as if by water over time. The tower shape is broken up into more slender parts by cuts in the form, and residents’ terraces populate its rooftops.
903-921 Bourke Street,
Waterloo | Danks St District
A mixed-use residential development designed in collaboration with MHNDU, as part of a wider precinct masterplan alongside buildings by Bates Smart and Turner, for Dasco. It includes circa 230 apartments, with ground floor retail and set within a heritage plaza.
The 31-storey tower rises from a solid brick base, a textured terracotta form, smoothed as if by water over time. The tower shape is formed from a collection of four extruded parts that sit at varied heights – residents’ terraces populating the rooftops.
At the podium level, a raised landscaped courtyard – the oasis – sits at the heart of Bourke St North and is planted with lush, shade-resistant species. Every apartment is designed with a view to nature, and this central green space serves as the primary outlook for apartments that don’t face the park.
