“Sydney is Beautiful” Street Level Competition.

SITE CONTEXT

A BATTLEGROUND FOR THE ARCHITECTURE OF SYDNEY

Woolloomooloo sits adjacent to the most beautiful harbour in the world, flanked by the Botanical Gardens, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, St Mary’s Cathedral, Hyde Park and surrounded by the exclusive historic neighbourhoods of Darlinghurst, Paddington, Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point.

Despite this, much of the suburb is decrepit, dishevelled, and an unsettling clash between historic cottages and over scaled glass and concrete towers. Relentless and congested traffic feeds onto William and Palmer Streets and the National M1 Motorway creates an imposing barrier between the neighbourhood and the city to the west. The astute might perceive an eerie sense of a battlefield....and would be correct.

February 2023 will mark the 50 year anniversary of the 1973 Green Ban placed on development in Woolloomooloo. Juanita Neilsen- a member of the Woolloomooloo residents group, heiress of the Foy Department Store Dynasty, and community activist- in her efforts to protect her neighbourhood, lost her life on the 4th of July 1975, having been a victim of supposed homicide following her advocacy and opposition to developers. Her ally and fellow advocate, Jack Mundey summarised the philosophy of the Green Ban as follows:

“Yes, we want to build. However, we prefer to build urgently-required hospitals, schools, other public utilities, high-quality flats, units and houses, provided they are designed with adequate concern for the environment, than to build ugly unimaginative architecturally-bankrupt blocks of concrete and glass offices...”

In our vision for Woolloomooloo, we hope to do honour to the lives of Juanita Neilsen, Jack Mundey and to all those that hope for a beautiful and humane architecture for Sydney.

BUILDING DESIGN DESCRIPTION AND PRINCIPLES

1. BUILD TO LAST

The proposed design utilises Sydney Sandstone, Australian Hardwoods and other natural local materials, in load bearing masonry construction, re- establishing traditional standards of building durability and longevity. Being free from reinforced concrete and junk composite materials this building is designed to last centuries not decades.

2. BEAUTIFUL & TIMELESS DESIGN

This proposed design uses classical ordering and proportioning systems, and draws from the rich genius loci of classical and vernacular architectural precedents in Woolloomooloo and Sydney (the Juanita Neilson Community Centre, the Port Authority Building, the QVB, etc.). Its architectural character and details are authentically tied to Sydney’s rich architectural traditions, reinforcing a sense of place in the neighbourhood. Our hope is that this proposed design creates a beautiful new standard for mixed use residential buildings in the precinct. We also believe that beauty encourages environmental sustainability, as future generations maintain and cherish that which ennobles and enriches their neighbourhood.

3. PASSIVE THERMAL DESIGN

Using local vernacular building traditions such as courtyards, cross ventilation, loggias, planted pergolas over terraces and juliet balconies, the proposed design responds to the mediterranean climate, (noting particularly the work of Leslie Wilkinson, Michael Suttor and colonial precedents). The seven storey height of the building suits the street width allowing light to reach landscaped streets and discouraging cold wind tunnels that come with high-rises.

4. HUMAN SCALED STREET FACADES

The ornamented, engaging and human scaled facades of the proposed building have been designed to directly address the street at a pedestrian level with the use of loggias and awnings, therefore encouraging pedestrian traffic along William Street and the newly proposed “Juanita Nielsen Way” and acting as a gateway for access to the Harbour foreshore, State library, Art Gallery and Opera House.

Street Level Australia is an association of local groups working to make Australian places more beautiful and conducive to human flourishing by advancing good urbanism, traditional architecture and quality building.

https://www.streetlevelaustralia.org/

The parish of North Dandenong engaged MJSA to create a Masterplan for a 1.5ha site. The objective of the masterplanning exercise was to identify surplus land to the functional needs of the school and parish and to propose a staged mixed-use development that could be used to fund improvements to the school and parish buildings.

The architecture employed simple attractive forms that are in keeping with the traditional Melbourne vernacular in a contextual manner that helps to reinforce a sense of place. The Master Plan provides for a durable mixed used development at the site, adjacent to shops and public transport delivers authentic sustainability efficiency and liveability. The provision of public spaces on the site promote community engagement inclusivity connectivity and welcoming gathering spaces for the culturally diverse community.

MJSA were engaged to prepare a 50 year master plan for a community in the beautiful Chittering Valley one hour north of Perth.

The Master Plan set out a new mixed-use urban town centre as well as an academical village, which included the Divine Mercy Shrine, primary school, high school and a future University Village, to meet the needs of the expanding new school.

The 100 acre Master Plan also included the provision of a university and monastery and the provision of public sporting facilities in partnership with Local Government.

MJSA developed a street domain design concept for the apartment complex, Stanford Hall, situated in Oaks Lane of Potts Point.

The proposed scheme seeks to renew the street domain by unifying the material palettes and landscaping of the public street domain with the private entrance forecourt of Stanford Hall through the use of classical forms and motifs.

The scheme incorporates new street lighting and planting to complement a new entrance forecourt and classical facade composition, creating a coherent and welcoming urban aesthetic.