55 Pitt Street

55 Pitt Street is a 62,000-square-metre future workplace development of premium commercial and activated retail space. With frontages on Pitt, Underwood and Dalley streets in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, the development contributes to the New South Wales government’s greater revitalisation of the iconic Circular Quay waterfront precinct. The site, within the former harbour shoreline where a historic stream once connected, has held cultural significance to the Gadigal People, the original custodians of the area. Guided in our work by Indigenous consultants, the design has been shaped to honour and celebrate the living memory of these First Peoples, weaving their history and stories into the building narrative. The lobby and entrance hall include native plantings and both literal and abstract expressions of flowing water, referencing the history of the site. A permeable ground plane allows free movement across the site, with through-links connecting to an expansive, activated public realm. The rooftop, with harbour views to the east, will host an events space and northern dining terrace, with the southern portion reserved for an endangered species garden, featuring intimate seating and informal meeting opportunities. The building’s design is heavily governed by biophilic design principles, incorporating both direct and indirect connections to nature. The building core is separated into two discrete elements: the “hard” service core, which carries from the solid masonry podium up into the tower, and the “soft” amenities core, the flexible and naturally ventilated amenity to the main tower. Capitalising on Sydney’s temperate climate, the amenities core incorporates a breathable facade, welcoming in natural ventilation and a connection to the external environment through ‘operables’ that open and close depending on the conditions. Terracotta is used to represent a connection to the mudflats that once existed on the site, while also performing a sustainable function, shading the facade to reduce the building’s heat load. These terracotta hoods elegantly wrap the window units, shielding from the low northeast and northwest sun on the primary faces. The central principle of the design – to define a contemporary sense of place, inextricable from Sydney’s heritage and spirit – is reinforced through the materials selection. Repurposed sandstone quarried from an adjoining site is used throughout the ground plane, where the public experiences the building. Spotted gum timber is used in the soffit and extensively through the mixed-mode spaces that make their way up the eight-level podium and into the amenities core of the 55-storey tower. 55 Pitt Street is an environmentally responsive and site-specific development, engaging with the local climate and the storied history of the land. The effect is to continuously evoke a connection to nature throughout the space, and to generate in those spaces the proven sense of wellbeing that results from contact with natural materials and to Country.