hT    Harold Street Tower

PROJECT DATA

TYPE	RESIDENTIAL, TOWER, PUBLIC SPACE, LANDSCAPE
LOCATION	NORTH PARRAMATTA, NSW. AU
FSR	6.9:1
HEIGHT	80.5m / 25 STOREYS
GFA TOTAL	11, 384.4sqm
PARKING	96 SPACES
CLIENT	TREBEL 88 PTY LTD
DATE	2018
WITH	SCOTT CARVER ARCHITECTS SCOTT CARVER LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
TEAM	DAVE PIGRAM IAIN MAXWELL BENNETT SCORSIA
IMAGES	ATELIER ILLUME BENNETT SCORCIA

Harold Street Tower

North Parramatta, NSW, Au

A tower with a park instead of a podium as a model for how to make great streets and be a good neighbour in a densifying suburb rich with heritage.

The design of the Harold Street Tower sets out to resolve the challenges of bringing density into a heritage and suburban neighbourhood that is mutually beneficial to all.

Parramatta is culturally and spiritually connected to place for the area’s original inhabitants, the Durag people and a critical productive landscape for early European settlement in the support of the new colony.  As apartment living intensifies within Sydney and in particular along the City’s investment in light rail, it is paramount we create social and community value to avoid the compartmentalisation of people into low-amenity apartments. 
This community and social value (and engagement) is through the investment in public open and connected space.

This is to the great collective value:
- The resident who has a place outside of the home;
- The investor who seeks to ensure the development is attractive and marketable in a competitive environment;
- The community and neighbours who have density landing on their doorstep;
- The Council who seeks to reconcile the challenges of translating relatively small consolidated development parcels into intensity rather than density.  Intensity of activity, choice and social interaction.

The Design Excellence Competition framework offered an important opportunity for the City of Parramatta and participating design and development teams to propose new strategies that seek to mediate existing low rise neighbourhood fabrics with the imposition of massively increased development scales. It is both a critical and important opportunity that demands an attentive and innovative typological response by designers. A chance to re-evaluate the dominant model of four-to-six storey podiums with overhead towers, towards a more open, imaginative and inclusive ground plane responses that offer extended public infrastructures, programs and permeable links.

The Sydney CBD is home to some excellent high-rise buildings that demonstrate the civic benefit of releasing the ground plane through the skilful management of building height and FSR. Our design proposal achieves a similar outcome albeit towards the realisation of a new, functional and much needed public park. The move not only provides amenity for our building’s occupants, but also to neighbouring properties ensuring a mutually beneficial outcome to existing and prospective residents.