Walsh Bay Arts Precinct

2022 National Architecture Awards: The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage

Walsh Bay Arts Precinct | Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects

Traditional Land Owners: Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

The Walsh Bay Arts Precinct is conceived as an arts ‘ecosystem’, where the synergy of co-located creatives will generate a powerful cultural energy, open and visible to the public. Significantly, this creative activity will be located in one of the city’s most characterful waterfronts, a place where Sydney’s maritime history joins its contemporary spirit.

As a State Heritage listed precinct, and with each of the wharves similar in volume to a large timber skyscraper laid on its side over water, the project presented a very high level of design and constructional challenges. TZG endeavoured to conserve as much of the open, industrial character of the original buildings as possible, whilst accommodating within them an ambitious and technically demanding functional program.

The project will be occupied by a host of Sydney’s premier arts companies and encompasses multiple state-of-the-art performance theatres, rehearsal studios, workshops, function spaces, commercial tenancies and administrative offices.

JURY CITATION

Walsh Bay’s Pier 2/3 cathedral-like spaces, originally built from vast amounts of timber from old-growth forests and honestly and powerfully expressed, once housed Australia’s main shipping facilities of the early twentieth century. They have been masterfully transformed, along with a lightly updated Pier 4/5, to contribute in scale and detail to what has become a cultural heart for Sydney.

Key moves, such as separating the internal spaces from the external building fabric, and identifying the essence of the building and its surrounds, have allowed the various spaces’ qualities to be enjoyed and celebrated.

The structure of the building and the materials that enabled it to deliver robust stevedoring facilities are brought to our attention, exposed in space and reflected in the mirrors on introduced walls. Inspired by Vivian Fraser’s original work on Pier 4/5 in the 1980s, the least amount of work possible has been done to the original fabric, while repairs and additions have been respectfully undertaken. Acoustic and fire isolation along with up-to-date access requirements for the building’s many new uses have been achieved with great care and consideration. New balconies for relief and access across both piers have been inspired by the original steel gantries, with detailing appropriate for the structure’s future life.

The outcome is gloriously restrained and robust, honouring the original design. With its valuable timber resources and their locked-up carbon, Walsh Bay is now fit for another 100-plus years of life for Sydney.

Client perspective:
How does the design benefit the way you live/work/play/operate/educate/other?

The design of Walsh Bay Arts Precinct significantly enhances the future of the 9 resident arts companies. The design of state-of-the-art rehearsal, participation, workshop, costume, office, hospitality, and performance facilities across the precinct makes the most of the stunning location to inspire artists and staff. The technical design specifically allows greater artistic ambition benefitting both artists and audiences.
Just one example of organisational benefit: Australian Theatre for Young People will now present an annual professional season in their own theatre delivering 72 new paid opportunities for actors and creatives, 4 new core team roles and 30 casual opportunities.

Practice team:

Brian Zulaikha, Architect
Roger O’Sullivan, QMS Manager + Architect
Todd Solman, Architect
Bethany Sullivan, Architect
Alessandro Belgiorno-Nettis, Graduate of Architecture
Matilda Watson, Designer
Sujata Bajracharya, Architect
Wolfgang Ripberger, Designer
Nazia Kachwalla, Interiors
Regina Meyer, Architect
Kevin Lee, BIM Manager
Alison Osborne, Interiors
Sophie Hutchinson, Designer
Heather Cappie-Wood, Architect
Anton Van den Berg, Designer
Jeremey Hughes, Project Coordinator
Dmitry Troyanovsky, Wharf 4/5 – Project Architect
Grant Sandler, Pier 2/3 – Project Architect
Julie Mackenzie, Director Heritage and Adaptive Reuse – Architect
Peter Tonkin, Project Director – Architect

Builder:

Richard Crookes Constructions

Construction team:

Bates Smart, Master Planning
Jacobs, Marine Ecology
Cosmos Archaeology, Marine Archaeologist
CRM, Aboriginal and Historical Archaelogist
Stantec (formerly GTA), Traffic Engineer
CC Williams for TZG Signage, Internal Signage & Wayfinding
Sangster Design Group, Kitchen Consultant
Blackett Maguire + Goldsmith, BCA Consultant and Certifier
Accessibility Solutions, Acoustic Consultant
MG Planning & GTK Consulting, Planner
Arup, Maritime Consultant
Arup, Theatre and AV Consultant
Arup, Building Services Engineer
Arup, Acoustic Design and Engineering
Arup, ESD Consultant
Arup, Fire Engineer
Taylor Thomson Whitting, Facade Engineer
Taylor Thomson Whitting, Civil Consultant
Taylor Thomson Whitting, Structural Engineer
Tropman & Tropman Architects, Heritage Consultant
Infrastructure NSW, Project Delivery