Barangaroo, formerly known as East Darling Harbour, is a 22ha site with a 1.4km harbour foreshore frontage located on the north western edge of the Sydney CBD. The site is bound by the Sydney Harbour foreshore to the north and west, the historic precincts of Millers Point, The Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge to the east.

This phase of Barangaroo South includes residential buildings by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and the Crown Hotel Resort by Wilkinson Eyre Architects.

The public realm and landscape spaces are viewed as a pivotal public hub that creates the missing connective tissue between the Waterfront, the Reserve, Barangaroo South, Observatory Hill, the Rocks, and the CBD.

At the heart of this new public domain is a sequence of spaces, connections and attractions that navigate between diverse levels and development types to define the very identity of Barangaroo South.

This identity takes advantage of a number of special qualities of the site and setting such as:

• • Meeting the water: redefining the character of the water’s edge
• • Bushland, sandstone and sea: celebrating the unique costal character of Sydney’s coastal planting and the colours and textures of sandstone
• • Views to the Harbour: enhancing views across the harbour towards one of Sydney’s most iconic landmarks
• • Endless Sky: embracing an expansive and endless sky as drama and contrast to the water
• • The Borrowed Landscape: exploring the richness and character of views to and from the site
• • A Distinctive Geology and Topography: The areas visual prospect enhanced by the underlying sandstone outcrop that defines the colour, nature and topography of this part of Sydney.

Waterman Cove and Wulugul Walk – The Vision

The aspiration for Watermans Cove and its relationship to the Harbour, offering Sydney’s greatest and most distinctive urban waterfront experiences. The Cove offers a genuine new public place supported by a range of appropriate services, facilities and uses. In a new circular form, it aims to organise the previous collection of spaces arriving at the Cove into a unified whole so that there is a clear appreciation of arriving at a space that is truly the place where the city embraces the water.

Key Landscape Spaces:

Watermans Quay is the only true east west orientated street in Barangaroo. Its character and detailing have been developed according to the City of Sydney public realm standards. In comparison to other streets Watermans Quay is wide allowing generous street tree planting composed around the basement entries for the future Residential buildings and Tower One.

Hickson Park creates a significant new urban park in the CBD. The park provides opportunities to relax and meet away from the busy Barangaroo Streets; a sunny spot, protected from cold winds in winter with shade tree planting offering respite in summer. Hickson Park is composed as a simple yet contemporary space that includes a large flexible lawn area and significant tree planting.

Wulugul Walk completes part of the continuous foreshore walk and joins the existing surrounding new developments and Barangaroo Central. A continuous double avenue of tree planting wraps around the front of Crown Resort Hotel and extends towards Watermans Cove. The Boardwalk provides the canvas for a variety of new activities and events, incorporating the existing former Spirit of Tasmania loading dock into a usable and celebrated part of the public realm.

Watermans Cove is the defining waterfront moment of Barangaroo waterfront, integrating a series of key axes and vistas to bring together various different characters in one unique place. Watermans Cove becomes the home for major events and celebrations, offering the public the opportunity to get close to the water and engage with the magnificent Sydney Harbour. Wulugul Walk is an important part of the Cove experience, traversing many different public domain experiences. It is the physical continuity of the Walk, including its connection with the Cove, that integrates the experience into a memorable whole.

The Cove boardwalk has been designed to include a new pier on the southern edge of the Cove which strengthens its circular geometry and helps define it as its own unique place. The Pier offers the opportunity for a new community facility that engages with both the water and the principal pedestrian area.

The boardwalk, steps and sandstone terraces play an important role providing a variety of smaller and larger distinct zones that can be programmed for specific uses and revenue opportunities. The circular form of the Cove provides excellent opportunities for events to take place over the water or on temporary pontoons.

All Image credits – PHOTO CREDITS: Grant Associates / Lendlease. All graphic illustrations Grant Associates

Location: Barangaroo, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Design year: 2014 – 2016

Year Completed: 2020