RSHP transforms "Sydney's back door into a new front door" with Barangaroo masterplan
British studio RSHP has completed the Barangaroo South masterplan in Sydney, transforming an abandoned container port into a harbourside commercial and residential district.
Working with developer Lendlease, RSHP designed Barangaroo South as an extension of Sydney's central business district, aiming to connect the surrounding city with the disused waterfront location.
"With the greatest respect for all people and supporting the vision that was to give back a new landscape to Sydneysiders at Barangaroo, we set out to be radical at Barangaroo South, to turn Sydney's back door into a new front door," said RSHP senior design director Ivan Harbour.
"That it has been such a success is testament to the skills of the thousands of people involved in its conception and realisation, in the making of history".
The first phase of Barangaroo South was completed 10 years ago and in 2016, RSHP completed the International Towers Sydney, a trio of office buildings designed as the heart of the district.
The three office towers have rounded ends and were arranged side-by-side at slight angles, aiming to give "democratising views whilst making space at street level for the fully accessible waterfront", according to RSHP.
Neighbouring the International Towers Sydney is a pair of residential skyscrapers named One Sydney Harbour, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, and the curved Crown Towers Sydney hotel by architecture studio WilkinsonEyre.
More than two-thirds of the Barangaroo South site is dedicated to public and recreational spaces, including a park, a waterfront promenade and an amphitheatre-like boardwalk that steps down towards the water.
To help connect the district with the rest of Sydney, RSHP designed the masterplan with pedestrian pathways and bridges, a ferry terminal, and a metro station that was completed by British studio Foster + Partners last year.
According to RSHP, Barangaroo South became Australia's first carbon-neutral district in 2019.
"Barangaroo is more than a masterplan – it's a living part of the city that continues to evolve around the people who use it every day," said RSHP Australia managing director Avtar Lotay.
"As a practice based here in one of the International Towers, we experience daily the first-hand vibrancy and connection this place brings to Sydney's western waterfront," he continued.
"Barangaroo demonstrates what can be achieved when design prioritises public space, sustainability, and a sense of belonging – principles that continue to shape our work in Australia and beyond."
Barangaroo South forms part of RSHP's wider Barangaroo transformation masterplan, which the studio divided into three zones.
The other two zones completing the development are Barangaroo Central, which will feature low-density housing overlooking a park, and Barangaroo Reserve, a landscaped area created as a reconstruction of a historic local headland.
A promenade wraps the entirety of Barangaroo's waterfront, contributing to a continuous 14-kilometre harbourside trail from Sydney's Anzac Bridge to the Royal Botanic Gardens, which passes the Sydney Opera House on the way.
Other projects by RSHP include plans for a 1.7-kilometre-long convention centre in China and designs for 10 interconnected buildings containing a hotel and housing in Dubai.
The photography is by Brett Boardman unless otherwise stated.
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