Sydney Plaza in Australia by Adjaye Associates

Article source: Adjaye Associates

Project Narrative

Rooted in lost history, the new Sydney Plaza is about the meaning of place, heritage and identity. An attempt to uncover, layer and celebrate the Eora origins of this part of coastal Sydney, the project is about the reconciliation of cultures and defining identity in an ever changing world. This reconciliation of difference lies at the heart of the proposal and aims to articulate and establish dialogue around the complex relationship colonizers have to their indigenous communities.

Inspired by simple unitary forms and place making in Aboriginal culture, we imagine the new community building and plaza as a ‘found place’ based around the notion of the shelter, a symbolic respite away from the busy streetscape that is discovered and dissolves through light.

Image Courtesy © Adjaye Associates

• Architects: Adjaye Associates
• Project: Sydney Plaza
• Location: Sydney, Australia

Image Courtesy © Adjaye Associates

To connect this profound centre with the sites heritage and origins, we have collaborated with Daniel Boyd, a renowned contemporary artist of Aboriginal dissent, on the projects key feature – a 27x34m perforated canopy that shelters and unites the community building and the plaza under a poetic layer of light and darkness.

Inspired by Aboriginal dot painting, Boyd will curate a cosmic journey of light that filters and refracts through multiple, randomly scattered, circular, mirror-lined canopy openings. The circular pattern translates and continues onto the paving via a series of steel circles and cylindrical glass skylights, extending and directing the play of light down into the bicycle facility positioned beneath the plaza.

The community building’s details are intentionally simple. An open plan café, gallery space and garden terrace are wrapped under a reduced utilitarian form. It is a flexible and inviting, free flow space with activated connections to the plaza and adjacent developments, where encounters with art and community are made easy.

Image Courtesy © Adjaye Associates

The distinctive pitched roof of the community building refers to the primary silhouette of early settlers’ houses – weaving in another layer to the narrative of place. The result is a hybrid form that merges the Aboriginal origins with the legacy of early settlers and the industrial materiality and language of the nearby harbour.

We have envisioned a highly interactive environment that connects holistically to its neighbouring buildings and public realm. Our proposal, in addition to the new community building, includes the George Street public plaza, Circular Quay Tower pedestrian bridge as well the integration of the proposed cycle parking facility.

Incorporating these public interventions with our design proposal ensures a building which is tied to its location and community. We believe the new community building and George Street public plaza can become a new cherished destination in Sydney’s CBD, a generative place for people to connect, recharge, reflect and take a pause from the rhythm of a fast transforming city.

About Adjaye Associates

Adjaye Associates was established in June 2000 by Founder and Principal, Sir David Adjaye OBE. Receiving ever-increasing worldwide attention, the firm has offices in Accra, London, and New York and completed work in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The practice’s largest commission to date, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, opened in 2016 on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Select completed works include: Ruby City in San Antonio, Texas, a contemporary art gallery for the Linda Pace Foundation; (2019); Ghana Freedom, the first Ghana Pavilion at the 58th International Venice Art Biennale (2019); Sugar Hill museum and housing development in Harlem, New York (2015); the Aishti Foundation arts and shopping complex in Beirut, Lebanon (2015); Alara Concept Store in Lagos, Nigeria (2014); Marian Goodman Gallery, London (2014); the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African and African American Art at the Hutchins Centre, Harvard University (2014); two neighbourhood libraries in Washington DC (2012); the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO (2010); the Stephen Lawrence Centre in London (2007); the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver (2007); Rivington Place Gallery in London (2007); The Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo (2005); and the Idea Stores in Tower Hamlets, London (2004 and 2005) – two pioneering community libraries in London’s Tower Hamlets.

Image Courtesy © Adjaye Associates

Tags: Australia, Sydney

Categories: Cafe, Community Centre, Gallery, Plaza, space

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