‘Devastating’:Fears Barangaroo tower will block views from historic Sydney site

A 21-storey apartment building will tower over the northern end of Barangaroo under plans for the final piece of the urban renewal area in central Sydney,sparking fears it will block views from the historic Observatory Hill.

The tower will be the tallest at Central Barangaroo,and is planned to be built adjacent to the western entrance of a new$220 million metro train station,according to several sources with information about the long-awaited developments for the site.

Residents fear the 21-storey residential tower will cast a shadow in the morning over the park to be built in front of the Crown skyscraper,and block views to and fromObservatory Hill.

The other buildings planned alongside Hickson Road will range in height from about 10 to 12 storeys.Central Barangaroo is an area between the headland park and the skyscrapers at the southern end of the 22-hectare precinct.

Architect Philip Thalis,a City of Sydney councillor,said the apartment tower would have a “devastating impact” on views to and from Observatory Hill.

“It is one of the most historic vistas in Sydney,” he said.

At almost 70 metres,the height of the building envelope for the tower planned for Central Barangaroo will make it only about 13 metres shorter thanBlues Point Tower at McMahons Point.

Cr Thalis said the tower and the size of the other buildings bordering Hickson Road as part of Central Barangaroo amounted to “gross overdevelopment”.

“There is no guarantee that they won’t[pursue] bracket creep and bump it up – that is the history of Barangaroo. There has been this cloud over Central Barangaroo for over five years,” he said.

The total floor space proposed for the buildings at Central Barangaroo will be well over 100,000 square metres,more than double the size of the space previously approved.

Infrastructure NSW,which is responsible for Barangaroo,said the density and height of the buildings at Central Barangaroo were “appropriate for the location”,and would be much smaller than those at the southern end of the precinct.

Central Barangaroo is the final stage of the NSW government’s $8.7 billion Barangaroo urban renewal project.

Central Barangaroo is the final stage of the NSW government’s $8.7 billion Barangaroo urban renewal project.James Brickwood

The government agency said it was finalising plans for Central Barangaroo with its development partner Aqualand,and had consulted a range of stakeholders including the City of Sydney council and Sydney Observatory.

“We look forward to the plans going on public exhibition in the coming months,when everyone will be encouraged to have their say,” it said.

A Millers Point residents group said it was “shocked and disappointed” about the plans for the residential tower,which it described as “tantamount to heritage vandalism”.

“The views of Observatory Hill and much of Millers Point have rightly been maintained for cultural significance. To even obscure these views was previously banned,and we’re very concerned,” Millers Point Community Resident Action Group president Bernard Kelly said.

The group commissioned designers to produce artist’s impressions of Central Barangaroo based on the proposed building envelopes,including the impact of views to and from Observatory Hill.

Mr Kelly said the original plans for Central Barangaroo were designed to limit development to protect views from public spaces to and from Observatory Hill.

“The building heights will totally obliterate those public views. We do not want to see another Blues Point Tower in Sydney,” he said.

Apart from obscuring views to and from Observatory Hill,the residential building will tower over the six-storey Palisade Hotel,which is the tallest building in the historic Millers Point. The proposed envelopes contrast with original plans for buildings at Central Barangaroo to reduce in height the closer they were to the northern headland,creating a step-like appearance.

Infrastructure NSW is expected to lodge a modification to the concept plan,which will include the plans for Central Barangaroo,next month.

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Matt O'Sullivan is transport and infrastructure editor at The Sydney Morning Herald.

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