A Better Barangaroo | AIA

Just two weeks ago saw a group of about 57 architects and urban planners gather to discuss the approved design attributes by the lend lease design.

The new design relocates the hotel designed by Richard Rogers back onto the existing land rather than the new pier as it also reduces the height of the office buildings.

Paul Keating has proposed to remove the cruise ship terminal and replace it with a naturalistic headland park which the group have estimated costing between 100-200 million to complete. The group also is in support of keeping the cruise ship terminal as Brian Zulaikha from the AIA NSW chapter has said “A facility of this kind brings life and vitality to the area, while retaining its historic ‘working harbour’ function.”

He also said “The whole site is public land. Public benefit should be paramount, particularly full access to the harbour foreshore. Commercial development has its place, but should be secondary to the public benefit provided by the site.”

A group called Architects & Planners Concerned About Barangaroo put forth the alternative proposal. David Chesterman from the group said that the current design team and developer were excellent but his concerns lie with the massive scale of the design and the “unprecedented intrusion into the waterways” of Rogers hotel.