388 George Street

King George Tower and Plaza King George Tower, originally designed by John Andrews and completed in 1976, was a significant city landmark known for its innovative external triangular glass sun shading and Brutalist concrete expression. The sunken courtyard and 45-degree erosion of the corner were less successful. Refurbishment and Loss A major refurbishment in 1997 stripped off the external shading, replaced the facade and infilled the plaza to street level with underground retail and a low-scale armature extending to the corner. The integrity of Andrews’ original design was lost. Redevelopment and Design Competition As part of a tower services upgrade, a design competition was held to address the unresolved corner and open space. fjcstudio’s winning design introduced a new corner building, arcade-laneway, lobby, end-of-trip facilities, a rooftop bar, and a basement supermarket. The tower floors and services refurbishment were handled separately by other architects. Grounding the Tower and Holding the Corner fjc’s concept aimed to define the street corner with a new building and restore integrity to the Andrews tower by defining the street corner with a new building and ensuring the tower landed clearly and independently on the ground, with the distinctive concrete corner supports and expressed fire-stairs visible. The new pre-cast concrete pavilion stands apart from the tower, primarily oriented toward the busy King and George Street corner. Secondary curvilinear corners complement Andrews’ curved fire stairs, defining the arcade entrances. Laneway Arcade and Street Address A new open laneway/arcade connects and separates the tower and pavilion, creating a popular diagonal pedestrian link between George and King Streets, in line with Andrews’ original ‘cutting of the corner’ concept and the tradition of Sydney arcades. The lightweight glass arcade roof, with organic geometry, reconciles the differing geometries of the tower and pavilion. It rises toward George Street, echoing the original lofty entrance of Andrews’ tower, extending as a street awning along King and George Streets. A simple glass-box lobby, centrally aligned with the tower columns, reorients to George Street, linking the lift core and enabling the public through site connection and cafe. Hybrid Uses and Vitality The new building provides a series of hybrid uses intended to service the needs of city workers and to enhance the vitality of this important busy corner location. The arcade and café/restaurant entrance animate the laneway, while the lobby opens to George Street, incorporating shared workplace commons. Fashion retail addresses the corner with dual entrances, while additional retail infills both streets. The upper pavilion level houses small-footprint workplaces. Basement retail, accessed via the laneway, includes a Locali grocery store and an Italian restaurant. A Japanese bar and restaurant occupy the rooftop terrace, further activating the site. Concrete The new pavilion’s finely crafted pre-cast concrete provides form, depth, and shading, complementing the original tower’s Brutalist off-form concrete. Continuity and Sustainability The new pavilion and lobby provide an essential upgrade of workplace and city facilities that enables the continuity of the 1970s tower, preserving existing fabric and avoiding significant carbon loss.