Back in 2013, WilkinsonEyre won an international architecture competition to design a new skyscraper on Sydney's waterfront. Some eight years later, One Barangaroo is now finally complete and the eye-catching tower offers hotel guests and the well-heeled residents of its luxury apartments superb views of the area, including Sydney's famous Opera House.
One Barangaroo (aka Crown Sydney at One Barangaroo) rises to a height of 275 m (902 ft), which makes it Australia's fourth-tallest tower, behind the Q1 Tower, Australia 108, and the Eureka Tower – though Southbank by Beulah will eventually knock it down to fifth. It's a decent-sized tower, but not huge and to put its height into perspective, the Eiffel Tower in Pairs is 324 m (1,062 ft), to its tip.
Its overall form is conceived as three "petals" that twist and rise together. One such petal peels off roughly midway to create the main hotel accommodation, while the other two continue to rise to the top, hosting its luxury residences. The curving form of the building was quite complex to realize.
"The continuous curving highly insulated facade is made up of three different systems," says WilkinsonEyre. "This includes a triangulated system to deal with the tighter curves, while the main tower glazing consists of floor-to-floor rectangular panels of differing widths that were cold pressed into shape using the latest technology. The third glazing system enclosing the hotel room accommodation, takes on a more traditional curtain walling system with projecting mullions.
"While the glazing systems require a high number of bespoke glazed panels to deal with curvature, they are also highly insulated to reduce solar gain and provide a continuous glazed form that captures and reflects the light, which changes throughout the day. The hotel rooms and apartments are designed to make full use of the panoramic views of the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the city, each with a unique configuration that deals with the changing floor plates at each level."
The skyscraper's attached four-story podium hosts two sky terraces, each with infinity pools overlooking the harbor, as well as tennis courts, gyms, an outdoor pavilion, ballroom, cafes, bars and restaurants. Inside the tower proper, the lower floors contain a luxury resort hotel with 349 suites, while the upper areas host a total of 76 luxury residential apartments.
The residences themselves range between two to five bedroom apartments, plus there's also a handful of duplex and penthouse suites available. Luxury features available to residents include high-end aluminum kitchen appliances, marble bathrooms, and plush furnishings, as well as amenities like a concierge, a spa, fitness area, and more. We've no word on the cost of a pad in One Barangaroo, but one Australian businessman reportedly paid AUD 13.5 million (roughly US$10 million) for a 218 sq m (2,346 sq ft) three-bedroom apartment, on lease for 99 years.
The project was commissioned by Crown Resorts Limited and also involved Bates Smart, Meyer Davis, Blainey North, Robert Bird Group, Aecom, with St. Legere Design International handling landscaping duties.
Source: WilkinsonEyre