Sydney architecture photos, New South Wales building news, Houses designs architects

Sydney Buildings : NSW Architecture

Key Australian property developments. New South Wales built environment designs.

post updated 8 August 2025

Sydney Architecture Designs – chronological list

We’ve selected what we feel are the key examples of Sydney Architecture. We aim to include high quality NSW architectural projects.

Sydney Architecture News

We cover completed NSW buildings, new building designs, architectural exhibitions, design competitions and architects in Sydney.

Sydney Architecture

Sydney Building Projects – Selection, alphabetical:

Sydney Architecture : news + key projects (this page)

Sydney Building Designs : A-L

Sydney Buildings : M-Z

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Sydney Building News + Additions

Architecture News – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

13 Aug, 2017
Saving the Sirius Building

A decision by the New South Wales government not to heritage list the Sirius public housing building was invalid, a court has ruled, reports The Guardian.

The Brutalist-style building in Sydney’s Rocks district will now get a second chance after the land and environment court said the minister for environment and heritage, Mark Speakman, had not properly considered a recommendation by the heritage council to list it on the register.

The building is an example of purpose-built and accessible social housing. Mark Speakman said value of the building would be reduced by as much as $70m (?!) if heritage listing did go ahead
Justice Molesworth said some iconic structures were so valuable to society their financial burdens could never be “undue” and should be carried at all costs. He considered two other iconic landmarks around Sydney Harbour – the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Justice Molesworth did not make a decision on whether Sirius held a similar level of value, and stopped short of ordering the minister to list it on the heritage register.

The Brutalist building in “The Rocks” district will get another chance to avoid demolition.
Now, the NSW government must remake a decision based on current law. It also ordered the government pay the Millers Point Community Association, which has stood against the decision to sell off the building and crowdsourced $50,000 for legal fees.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/25/sirius-building-gets-second-chance-after-decision-not-to-heritage-list-it-ruled-invalid

The Save Our Sirius Foundation – fighting for heritage listing: saveoursirius.org

Sydney Architecture Walking Tours – by e-architect

19 Oct 2016
580 George Street Facade , Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia
Architect: FJMT Studio

photo : Brett Boardman
AR-MA worked with architects FJMT, Façade Engineers ARUP and Empire Glass to design and detail the facade systems for the awning, internal soffit, sloping glazing and composite entry canopy.

31 Dec 2015
Quay Quarter Tower Sydney
Design: 3XN Architects

image from 3XN
The 200m-high tower is the most ambitious building designed by a Danish architect in the city since Jørn Utzon’s Opera House. The 49-story high rise comprises five shifting glass volumes stacked upon each other. The lower levels of the tower angle west to capture the energy and movement from the surrounding neighborhood.

19 May 2014
Vivid Sydney 3D Light Sculpture
Design: The Buchan Group

image from architects
People passing through Sydney’s Central Business District will lend their face to a submerged giant human head rising out of Martin Place during this year’s Vivid Sydney festival.

15 May 2014
Castlecrag Residence
Design: CplusC Architectural Workshop

photographs : Murray Fredericks, Simon Whitbread
Located in the Sydney harbour-side suburb of Castlecrag, a cellular and inward-looking mid-20th century brick bungalow has undergone a complete transformation to an open, light filled contemporary family home that embraces the ideals of Walter Burley Griffin’s design legacy for Castlecrag “Building for Nature”.

14 Apr 2014
Eliza Apartments
Design: Tony Owen Partners

photo from architect
Designed to be Sydney’s most prestigious and progressive address. We sought a building to fit within the historic context of the area yet was an unmistakably contemporary and challenging design, combining classic 20th century style with parametric design tools to create a sustainable iconic Central Business District landmark.

26 Feb 2014
Residence in Bellevue Hill
Design: Bruce Stafford Architects

photographs : Karl Beath, Erik Smithson, Vincent Chi, Rachel Kayode
A guiding principle of the design was to promote the wellbeing of all members of the family, creating an environment of peace and tranquillity. With an abundance of natural light and sunshine, the spaces are interwoven with nature through the use of courtyards, skylights, glazed openings and garden.

15 Jul 2013
Surry Hills Terrace House
Design: Danny Broe Architect

photo from architect
The brief: maintain and preserve the lovely big rooms at the front of the house, while radically transforming the kitchen and bathroom at the back into a wonderful contemporary space. Seamlessly blend inside and outside living spaces.

11 Jun 2013
Royal Botanic Garden Sydney Masterplan
Design: Grant Associates

photo : Royal botanic gardens and domain trust © Simone Cottrell
Working alongside Cox Richardson Architects and Planners, Grant Associates will be responsible for developing the landscape strategy and public realm elements of the new masterplan. With a combined area of 64 hectares, on a spectacular location bordering the iconic Sydney Harbour waterfront, the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney and public Domain is the largest single site in the Sydney Central Business District.

9 Jun 2013
Alpha Apartments Sydney, Lewisham
Design: Tony Owen Partners

image from architects
The Alpha by Tony Owen Partners is due to start construction in July. Located in Lewisham on the fringe of the Sydney city centre, the Alpha will form the cornerstone of the new McGill design precinct. The McGill master plan, prepared by Tony Owen Partners, is envisaged as a hip mixed use designer precinct with a collection of contemporary buildings and public open spaces forming an exciting new community.

9 Apr 2013
Aspire Tower, Parramatta, western Sydney, NSW
Design: Grimshaw Architects

image from architects
A Development Application has been submitted on behalf of Parramatta City Council for a landmark mixed-use tower. The Aspire Tower emerged from a design excellence competition held by the Council and is set to establish a new benchmark for innovative, passive-environmental design in Australian high-rise developments.

11 Feb 2013
Danks & Bourke Offices
Design: Tony Owen Partners

photo from architect
The new Danks & Bourke strata commercial building is a refurbishment of a 1960’s concrete furniture warehouse. It is located in the former industrial area of Danks Street, which has lately become a trendy hub for the designer commercial set.

23 Jan 2013
Sydney Exhibition Centre + Convention Centre – campaign to save the buildings
Cox, Richardson, Taylor and Partners

photo : Patrick Bingham-Hall
The Sydney Exhibition Centre is a significant building for Sydney, recognised internationally as an outstanding architectural building of the twentieth century. Comprising five interconnected halls, each of 5,000 square metres, an underground 1,000 space car park.

18 Dec 2012
HASSELL + Populous win Sydney’s new Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct design project, Australia

image : HASSELL + Populous
SICEEP Darling Harbour
Joint venture partners HASSELL + Populous have won the architectural contract for the design of Sydney’s new integrated convention, exhibition and entertainment precinct at Darling Harbour, due for completion in 2016. HASSELL will also design the extensive public parklands and open space within the 20 hectare precinct. HASSELL + Populous are design consultants to Destination Sydney consortium.

13 Dec 2012
Darling Harbour Redevelopment – Masterplan + ICC Hotels
Design: OMA

image : OMA
The New South Wales Government announced today that Destination Sydney, consisting of Lend Lease, HOSTPLUS, Capella Capital, AEG Ogden and Spotless, is the preferred consortium for Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct (SICEEP) redevelopment.

2 Dec 2012
Dr Chau Chak Wing Building, UTS
Design: Gehry Partners LLP with architect Daryl Jackson Robin Dyke (Australia)

image : Gehry Partners, LLP
Lend Lease, one of Australia’s largest contractors, has been appointed by UTS to build the Frank Gehry-designed Dr Chau Chak Wing Building aka ‘Gehry’s Tree house’.
To open in mid-2014 at a total development cost of $180 million, the building will house the UTS Business School. The UTS building will be 12 storeys high.

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Architecture in Sydney – Recent Buildings

9 Oct 2012
Edgecliff Medical Centre
Design: Enter Architecture

photo : Brett Boardman
At 150sqm, the project was modest in its footprint but sets a clear example of digitally fabricated interiors, and a prototype to see how these projects perform. In early conversations with the client, priorities were quickly realised: 3 radiating treatment rooms, a central reception area, lots of play spaces, soft furnishings like beanbags and excellent visibility – all of which contributed to the genesis for the ideas and space planning that followed.

8 Oct 2012
Boilerhouse Precinct University of Western Sydney, Parramatta Campus
Design: Tanner Architects Pty Ltd

photo : Michael Nicholson
The Parramatta campus of University of Western Sydney is a significant and historic place. Continuously used since 1813 as a public institution – first as a school for the new colony’s female orphans, then as a psychiatric hospital and since 1998 as a university. The sequential development has resulted in a fine grained built form with a series of non axial vistas and interstitial places bounded by a cohesive group of buildings.

5 Oct 2012
Common Ground Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales
Design: HASSELL

photo from architects
Common Ground Sydney adopts the ‘street to home’ approach of the Common Ground model originating in New York. The project addresses chronic homelessness by providing stable, high quality permanent housing. The building itself is indistinguishable as social housing or an institutional building but rather presents as a contemporary and comfortable living environment.

5 Oct 2012
Boustred House in Mosman, Sydney Middle Harbour
Design: ian moore architects

photo : Daniel Mayne
This new residential property project is located in Mosman on a north facing slope looking across Sydney’s Middle Harbour to the Spit Bridge and Clontarf.

5 Oct 2012
Kerrie Murphy Building, Ultimo, Sydney, New South Wales
Design: Allen Jack+Cottier – Australia

photo : AJ+C
This school building for the International Grammar School in Ultimo, Sydney, celebrates the joy and excitement of discovery and learning for the young students, who have absolutely fallen in love with it. Michael Heenan, principal of Allen Jack+Cottier Architects has delivered an organic design to create a memorable and stimulating school building.

4 Oct 2012
Darling Quarter Sydney
Design: Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp

photograph : John Marmaras
The building was announced as the winner of the Office category at the World Architecture Festival. The project, which creates a new urban quarter on the edge of the city, was praised by the judges for its exciting form and massing and the creation of a publicly accessible landscape.
WAF Awards Shortlist 2012 – winner of office category

3 Jul 2012
Ravenswood School for Girls Sydney , Gordon
BVN Architecture

photograph : John Gollings
BVN won the 2012 Sulman Architecture Award at the Australian Institute of Architects Awards, becoming the first architecture practice to win seven Sulman awards since the award was first given eighty years ago in 1932. This latest award was given for the Mabel Fidler Building.

13 Jan 2012
Holman House, Dover Heights, east Sydney
Durbach Block Architects

photograph © Brett Boardman
Sited on the edge of a 70-metre high cliff, the plan of Holman House refers to Picasso’s painting The Bather. It contains a complex series of fluid living spaces set within a meandering perimeter that arcs, folds and stretches in response to sun, landscape and views.