The new development utilises original support structure and references the Neo-Gothic massing of the original design, abandoned in the Great Depression. To achieve a maximum number of high-quality apartments, a system of two-level units was developed with corridors and lift access at every second floor. The whole building is within a 45° sloping height-limit plane, which preserves solar access to Wynyard Park south of the site.

The elevation created by the sequence of double-storey apartment boxes continues the proportions of the Perpendicular Gothic façade below, emphasising its verticality and creating a dynamic silhouette. Evocative roof forms are developed as a series of sky follies leaning over each of the rectilinear ‘towers’, with the northernmost looking towards the Harbour. The double storey facade spaces enhance views to the sky and the city. Integrating natural ventilation, openable sliding doors and shading elements, the attached wintergardens function as an acoustic buffer and a passive solar system to allow daylight to penetrate deep into the apartments.

The new towers use sandstone colours to connect to the restored stone base, as well as expanses of seamed zinc and brilliant glazing. The interplay of solid and light, zinc and glazing combined with the irregular rhythm of coloured glazing panels, blinds and shutters, creates an elevation that reflects the vitality of the urban setting.

The project consists of a tower and a low-rise podium. The podium, with stacked two-storey apartments, retains the warehouse character of its mid-town location while the tower responds to the various aspects of the void spaces surrounding the site. The brick and glass podium façade relates to the scale of Clarence Street while the Western copper-clad façade establishes a relationship with the heritage warehouses of Kent Street.

The defining element of the plan is the ‘Ravine’, a full height open space that runs through the entire section of the building providing sunlight, ventilation and city and harbour views to the North. The base of the ‘Ravine’ is designed to be heavily planted and a major public artwork is planned.

Horizontal breaks in the building section define a change in plan and provide mid level roof terraces, which allow light and air movement to penetrate to the centre of the site. Private glazed ‘wintergarden’ balconies provide a high level of thermal and acoustic control for the building’s occupants.

The project was constructed from a limited budget and designed as two parallel blocks, separated by a private communal courtyard which takes advantage of the northern sun. The taller southern block is built to the street edge, and mediates between the differing scales of the adjoining heritage-listed buildings. All apartments run through the building blocks from front to back to maximise sunlight and ventilation. On the northern side of each block, the apartments have lobbies with sliding translucent screens, which double as internal circulation and indoor-outdoor private living space. The southern facades are more restrained, and are built using thermally dense masonry in a self-finished render.

The client-initiated brief was for public housing with ‘robust and ecologically superior’ design solutions, and the design team utilized materials with low toxicity, low energy-use and minimal processing. These materials, in combination with passive solar design, solar heating and water recycling, created a significant early ‘green’ project.

Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and Anton James Design proposed a Biological Plug – an earth weir located in the canal to re-mediate the upstream contaminated sediment through the use of micro-organisms and selected planting. The plug is progressively moved down the length of the canal. In conjunction with this water tank, bridges are part of an on going water cleaning system which were connected into a new park system bounded by intensified light/high-tech industrial buildings.

The design scheme was awarded a High Commendation.

The design for the Arboretum is based on a collection of 100 forests, each home to one endangered species. Species are chosen from the many thousands that are threatened, and curated according to colour of foliage, pattern of bark and leaf, filigree of branches, scent and texture, and suitability to the local growth conditions.

A simple formal geometry, developed from Griffin’s water axis, interacts with the landform on which it is laid. 250m wide forest bands are defined by native-planted clearings leading to the lake. Each Forest offers the experience of a single species, a hermetic world – rekindling the pleasure of being enveloped in a forest of one species. Each Forest holds a viable population, creating a seed orchard for the world, so that vulnerable and endangered species are preserved.

Defined gardens and event spaces are surrounded by the forests. With the provision of services, pavilion shelters and toilets these spaces have the potential to be booked for a wide range of events, as well as opportunities for themed gardens, sponsored plantings and temporary exhibits, artworks and garden designs.

A linear water feature will serve as the water storage facility, located in the main valley clearing of the Arboretum. The water bodies will have a total capacity of 10 megalitres, and will be a demonstration of water sensitive landscape design, showcasing contemporary design and ecological water recycling technology.

41 forests were planted at the Arboretum between 2005–2009. 26 new forests are scheduled for planting during the Autumn, Winter and Spring of 2010.

The project comprises 58 apartments, 5 townhouses, a café and several retail spaces. It is the first apartment complex in Sydney to achieve a five star Nathers rating, and features a range of one to three bedroom apartments, including two level cross-over units and a record breaking two storey penthouse marking the entry to Victoria Park.

The theme of ‘openness’ is expressed in the ambiguous relationship between the interior and the exterior. The walls are made from two layers of recycled plastic fabric spaced two metres apart. The outer layer of the Pavilion is partially transparent while the inner layer is a burnt red colour, and these are tautly wrapped around the Pavilion below a large floating roof plane.

Exhibition displays shift in and out of the space between the two layers of wall, which symbolically identify the mobility and transparency of the Australian political, social and geographical landscape. The roof, a ‘thermal pillow’, floats like a giant screen above the Pavilion. Illuminated from the walls below, it displays different configurations of light and colours throughout the day and night.

The Australian Pavilion is a sustainable building. It was made from temporary materials such as fabric and standard prefabricated steel elements, which were all re-used on its removal at the close of the Expo 2000.

Reinforcing connections between Japan and Australia, the design of the Pavilion is developed from the Expo theme of “Nature’s Wisdom / Nature’s Matrix” and presents the nation as a contemporary place of sophistication, complexity and depth.

The entire Pavilion is in the form of an open Matrix, a complex three dimensional construction of repeated rectangular modules. The building becomes an inside-out structure, open to Japan and to the world, a seemingly endless enfolding of space and surface, accommodating display graphics, showcases and multimedia. At the centre of the building, the Matrix is opened out to form a celebration space, a multi-purpose area for live entertainment and trade gatherings. The Matrix would be formed of surfaces and textures both virtual and real, with spaces for experimental installations and temporary displays. It would be entirely prefabricated in Australia, and shipped to Japan for fast and economical erection.

Externally, a glass-enclosed swimming pool forms an event icon, reflecting the Pavilion’s display theme of water, expressed internally as a progression through Australia environments from dry inland to wet coast.