Bates Smart was invited to participate in a City of Sydney Design Excellence Alternatives competition for a commercial property at 151 Clarence Street. The site is adjacent to another Bates Smart project, the heritage Red Cross building at 155 Clarence Street.
Bates Smart's approach aimed to optimise the NLA of the new commercial building while maximising the urban, environmental and economic benefits of the development.
Bates Smart Director, Philip Vivian, talks about the team's design concept:
"Our vision employed warm, masonry materials to create a sensitive response to the scale and materiality of the immediate heritage context without resorting to mimicry.
"Within the podium we have inserted an atrium to create an interconnected campus work environment with excellent natural light distribution onto the commercial floorplates. On the upper levels, a glazed tower with panoramic views of Darling Harbour maximises daylight penetration into the atrium while creating a conference, skylobby and entertainment level with expansive outdoor terrace."
The terrace level adopts a dynamic W transfer structure which reconciles the economical structural grids utilised within the podium and tower floors.
At ground level, a new through site link connects Clarence Street to Kent Street via a generous two storey galleria which intersects with the 9 storey high naturally lit podium atrium.
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