323 Castlereagh Street, Sydney

A sliver of underutilised land between a substation and a 1970s office tower metres from Central Station will be transformed into a vibrant 144-room hotel and lifestyle precinct.

Just 9.5 metres wide, the new 17-storey in-fill project received development approval in July 2024. Architectus was engaged for both planning and architectural services, preparing the Statement of Environmental Effects was critical to secure the DA. As one of the largest integrated Urban Design and Planning teams in Australia, our two teams worked side by side to achieve planning consent for our client.

Adding density to this small parcel in the heart of Sydney will create new public spaces and bring life to Tech Central and other emerging hubs as part of the Central Precinct Renewal Program.

A lively pathway drawing people to the site

A six-metre-wide, publicly accessible link travelling through the site at ground level will feature a range of retail to attract more activity and people.

The dramatic vertical dimension of the laneway also creates the potential to suspend public art between the new and existing buildings, while generous landscaping will soften the lane’s urban character.

This space will become a drawcard for shopping and dining, reminiscent of Chippendale’s Kensington Street or Melbourne’s Hardware Lane.

A wedge-shaped tower topped with terraces

Above the laneway, the hotel’s slender form maximises capacity while reducing overshadowing to nearby green spaces.

Steeply raked towards the north, the wedge-shaped tower features a series of landscaped terraces with native vegetation, creating a visual connection to neighbouring Belmore Park.

In addition to adding insulation to the building, the rooftop planting will reduce the overall heat island effect of the site. Conceived as a “5^th façade”, the terraced roof will become a beacon of greenery on the Sydney skyline.

A façade featuring a smart solar design

Sensitively responding to its context, the hotel’s solid brick base and façade with alternating glazing and brickwork reference Haymarket’s heritage masonry buildings while contributing to the development’s passive solar design.

The façade’s careful blend of materials effectively reduces the building’s thermal load by 50% compared to a traditional glazed curtain-wall system.

At the same time, modular serrated bay windows will maximise access to daylight and provide oblique views towards the park, a particular benefit for rooms looking toward the narrow laneway to the west.