Architectus to design $300 million Ultimo development

Architectus has been awarded Auswin TWT’s mixed-use development project at 495 Harris Street, Ultimo in Sydney.

It followed a design competition chaired by acclaimed architect Tony Caro.

The 5,322 square metre site is located next to the Ultimo Community Centre. It was the headquarters of Tabcorp, one of the last substantial development opportunities in the area.

There will be a multi-layered building that steps down from nine-storeys along Harris Street to six levels facing Bulwara Road with a likely total of 213 apartments ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, including two-level terraces with street level access.

There also will be ground floor retail/commercial space and two basement levels for vehicles and bicycles. 

The jury was impressed by Architectus’ contemporary interpretation of the site’s semi-industrial history.

It includes a large courtyard and a purpose-built pedestrian laneway.

It also features an innovative series of vertical masonry ventilation pipes which draw hot air in from the courtyard and expel it naturally, helping the building to ‘breathe’.

The director of urban design and planning with Architectus, Michael Harrison, said his firm had previously been engaged by a group of local residents who had been initially concerned that a new building on such a prominent site could impact their amenity.

“Armed with this knowledge we believe our scheme reflects many of their wishes for a development that doesn’t overpower the neighbourhood nor compromise their privacy, and which minimises the chance of overshadowing their properties,” Harrison said.

The upper levels are designed to ‘float’ above the traditional warehouse base.

The Harris Street site was originally owned by the Harris family who were the dominant landowners in the area for more than a century. Bushells Tea purchased the site in 1938 and built a four-storey warehouse to store its produce.

In 1964, the newly founded Totalizator Agency Board (TAB) acquired the property as its headquarters and nerve centre for its betting business. In 2004, TAB was taken over by the Victorian-based wagering and media company Tabcorp, which 10 years later sold the property to Auswin TWT.