Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Grosvenor Place

This is a project by Harry Seidler & Associates and it is located at Sydney CBD, Australia. Project's program: Refurbishment of ground plane of commercial tower. There are nine images for Grosvenor Place.

: © Dirk X Meinecke

Project details

Project name: Grosvenor Place
Location: Sydney CBD, Australia
Program: Refurbishment of ground plane of commercial tower
Area: Site area: 0.72 ha
Year: Completion: 2009
More details: Cost of construction: AUD 28 Million
Project by: Harry Seidler & Associates
Team: Principal Designer: Greg Holman • Design Team: Dirk Meinecke, Yoji Kurisu, John Curro

Project images

Designer's statement

Grosvenor Place, Sydney, is a 46-storey commercial tower with ground level retail and basement carparking designed by Harry Seidler & Associates in 1982.

While the commercial tower retains its status as one of Sydney's most desirable floor plates, the expectation of users for ground level services and amenity has changed over the building's twenty-two year occupancy.

In 2007, Harry Seidler & Associates were commissioned to design large areas of the ground plane to create internal lounge, food and beverage retail and recreation spaces within a lobby environment appropriate to the prestige status enjoyed by Grosvenor Place in the commercial market of Sydney. The scope of the design works was also to incorporate a new security and building management centre, new street frontages and property addresses at George Street, Harrington Street and Milsons Lane, and state of the art green-building environmental technologies.

The concept for the design of the new works was to build upon the established classic-modernist principles of the tower’s architecture. Visual tensions created between straight and curved geometries are reinforced with new forms, material and finishes selected for contrast of their naturally inherent textures, tones and patterns.

The design solution for the interior is anchored by an internally illuminated stone wall located along the line of an existing change in level through the site. This solution enlivened a dim, shaded precinct and established a new visual identity for the property. The hollow interior of the wall accommodates an accessible services spine and reticulation of fresh air supply.

To the south of the wall, a food and beverage retail atrium has been located under a new high performance clear glass clad space frame structure. Rainwater collection from the atrium glass is stored and re-used for toilet flushing (serving approximately 30,000 m² of tenant’s space) gardens and maintenance. The atrium is edged with a bamboo green wall through which low velocity, filtered and tempered outside air is supplied.

At the lower level to the north of the illuminated wall, lounge areas and a coffee shop edge the main circulation and tower access areas at the core. The integrity of the different areas of the interior is maintained by exfoliated black granite paving of the active-mass thermal floor.

The design of varying floor and ceiling levels establishes a variety of subtly defined spaces. The circular forms of the stair, coffee lounge, security office and rugs address and resolve the disparate geometries of the tower, street alignments and heritage structures.

Sustainable design and construction initiatives include maximised renewal, reuse and adaptation of existing concrete structure and building fabric such as lobby glazing mullions, glass sheets and stone.

While spatially complex in geometry and scale, the interior design for Grosvenor Place aims to establish a restrained environment with a unique presence that is felt as well as seen. The integration of new works externally aims to be seamless and sensitive to the original architecture.