AJC wins design competition for Chatswood tower
December 2022
AJC won the recent design competition for a mixed-use project in Chatswood on Sydney’s north shore with a concept of ‘high-rise houses’ that combine the neighbourhood's leafy amenity in a stepped tower that mediates between the commercial district and residential area.
Located at the northern end of the Chatswood CBD on Anderson Street, the site is envisaged as a new neighbourhood hub with a through-site link to Chatswood Station, a pocket park and street-level retail spaces serving the local coffee cravings.
The project by Truslan Group and Changfa Group combines two separate sites with pre-existing low-rise apartment buildings, extending the retail and employment zone north and bookending the Chatswood CBD high-rise precinct with a slender stepped tower, to transition into the residential district.
A commercial podium with flexible tenancy spaces forms a base for 86 residences over 24 levels in a unique mix of formats. Around 30% of apartments have 3 or 4 bedrooms, envisaged for downsizers and multi-generational families, meeting an identified gap in the local market.
The slender tower is designed to maximise light and views north, east and south for residents, while mitigating solar impact on the public domain. A tight material palette further reduces the visual building mass, combining the podium’s dark brickwork with white horizontal banding for the tower, with operable bronzed screens adding a functional layer that animates the building through the day.
Landscape by TCL is integrated into the building’s north, east and west elevations, extending Chatswood’s leafy streetscape through the site with large trees in the pocket park, a communal terrace above the podium, and upper roof terrace for residents.
Other resident amenities include a gym, work from home hub, BBQ and outdoor recreation spaces. The design team are exploring opportunities to commission artworks by local and First Nations artists to enrich the public spaces and podium facades.
“We are proud to have won this project through the competitive Design Excellence process. The client’s aspiration to do something exceptional here and focus on great design gave us the freedom to be bold and experimental” says AJC Director, Brian Mariotti.
AJC’s Studio Lead, Kelly Green, says the project will achieve high sustainable design outcomes with a brief for 5* Green Star performance.
“We wanted to create a place that local residents could also enjoy so the pocket park was a key move that benefits the building residents, locals and the environment with space for large canopy trees to grow and contribute to the leafy north shore character”
A planning application will be submitted early next year.
We are proud to have won this project through the competitive Design Excellence process.
AJC Director, Brian Mariotti
