25 Martin Place Retail Development

Woods Bagot, together with Harry Seidler & Associates, collaborated to provide a concept to reinvigorate the podium of the former MLC Centre, now known as 25 Martin Place, originally designed by the late Harry Seidler. The goal was to cement its reputation as the pre-eminent office, retail, and urban address in Martin Place and the Sydney CBD. The concept provided an opportunity for a strategic review of the entire development, and a master-planned, holistic approach to future building works. The design strives to preserve the existing Seidler legacy through adaptive reuse of the existing precast architectural expression while creating a distinctly new organic ‘ribbon’ to unite the entire development’s composition. The MLC Centre was designed by Harry Seidler in 1972 for the Lend Lease Corporation and completed in 1978. Located in the center of Sydney, fronting Martin Place, Castlereagh Street, King Street and Lees Court and including Rowe Street, the site’s 9,310 m2 area resulted from the amalgamation of 23 individual properties. The MLC Centre comprises a sixty-floor office tower, the 1,180 seat Theatre Royal, the CTA Club (as a separate site), two levels of retail arcades with a food court and a public plaza with outdoor cafes on various levels that open onto the surrounding streets. Typical of most commercial architecture, over time the MLC Centre had suffered an incremental reduction of the integrity of the original intent, and the clarity of the original design had been eroded. The new program has been designed to stand apart and yet be of an architectural language consistent with Harry Seidler’s vision in the following ways: Geometrically (new free-form curvatures in contrast with existing Cartesian and circular geometries) Materially (new light, glazed facades in contrast with existing solid, aggregate finished facades) Texturally - smooth linear surface in contrast with rough aggregate surface. Where new meets original, architectural detailing is to recognise, defer and be separate. 25 Martin Place is an important connective link in the city, and is surrounded by a series of activated city streets. Maintaining and enhancing the centre’s role as a connective destination – specifically between Martin Place and King Street – is crucial to its continued success. The reactivation of Lees Court and Rowe Street as a natural and vibrant city laneway provides a fantastic opportunity for growth within the urban realm, in keeping with the City of Sydney’s Laneway Revitalisation Plan. The precinct’s relationship to Martin Place creates a public plaza, drawing people into the retail, food offerings and also acts as a key address to the tower lobby. The podium comprises retail, restaurant, food court and associated public realm that are important aspects in elevating the status of 25 Martin Place. It is the marriage of these three elements: public space, retail and commercial identity that is key to its ongoing success.