Fabulous facades and deliberative democracy: how Sydney is reinventing its skyline
Sydney has one of the highest concentrations of ‘vertical greenery’ in the Southern Hemisphere: roofs and walls that integrate lush plants. Promoted by city policies, these ‘living walls’ have been a visible sign of Clover Moore’s successes as mayor.
Vertical greenery fulfils both environmental and sensory needs. As well as improving biodiversity, air quality and cooling, the plant life brings visual delight to passers-by. The icon of this approach is One Central Park, a 34-floor residential tower whose façade is a tapestry of more than 300 Australian plant species. It’s beloved by Sydneysiders and a beacon for sustainable architecture worldwide.
An interesting innovation under Moore’s mayoralty has been deliberative democracy, through the creation of citizen juries. Rather than consulting the public on strategy, her administration randomly selected 43 citizens to decide the city’s 30-year development plan. This has given the mayor the mandate (as well as the political shield) for controversial projects such as the pedestrianisation of George Street, a historic artery in the business district.
Design competitions come with an extra incentive: a 10% bonus in terms of permitted height or floor area, for proposals that demonstrate excellence.
Sydney and the wider New South Wales state are explicitly committed to design excellence, summarised in policy as ‘the highest standard of architectural, urban and landscape design’. Design competitions are mandated for large developments, and they come with an extra incentive: a 10% bonus in terms of permitted height or floor area, for proposals that demonstrate that excellence. (The inclusion of affordable housing in a proposal can now bring a developer additional bonuses of up to 30%.)
The city’s policy mix has fostered some fabulous façades, including Quay Quarter Tower, a retrofit of a 1976 skyscraper where five stacked multi-storey blocks rotate at different angles; a business school building designed by Frank Gehry with an intentionally ‘crinkled’ brick exterior; and a bird’s nest-like building, wrapped in curving strips of timber, that houses a library. These have marked a heartening shift away from the characterless ‘glass boxes’ that sprang up in Sydney last century.
Images
Top: Arc in Sydney by Koichi Takada Architects Image: Tom Ferguson
Bottom: One Central Park, Sydney by Ateliers Jean Nouvel / PTW Architects / ASPECT|OCULUS Image: Simon Wood