To resonate with St Peter’s stained glass windows and add colour and elegance to this corner of Parramatta, the proposed slender glass tower will appear subtly coloured and patterned by internal blinds which are part of the façade’s environmental performance system. Such environmental devices will offer a more pleasant atmosphere inside the building.

Customs House is a significant heritage building dating from 1845. It was built in successive stages in a variety of differing Classical styles, reaching its pre-renovation stage after he enclosure of its internal court in 1918. The significant 19th Century sandstone fabric was extensively conserved, and unsympathetic additions removed to reveal as much as possible of the original courtyard space. The most important interior spaces were also restored, while other areas were left flexibly serviced for a variety of future cultural uses.

Escalators and new glass lifts created a vertical public promenade, catching unexpected views of the surrounding city through the fully glazed new south wall.

The high level of energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable design achieved for Customs House is unusual for a heritage refurbishment project. The design integrates sophisticated mechanical, lighting and solar control systems to enable virtually the whole building to be naturally ventilated and naturally lit.

The glass roof, floating above the upper levels, bring light deep into the six-storey atrium. Layered glass solar-control blades track the sun throughout the day and year, reacting to overcast and night-time conditions.

A significant element of the project was the reworking of the Customs House Square. This was the location of the pre-1848 shoreline of Sydney Cove, where European settlers first landed in Australia. The paving of the Square marks this line using the intersection of the building’s axial geometry with that of the adjoining streets.

The Musselroe brief calls for a design that achieves a level of luxury with a special focus – here is not the luxury of vast space and expense, but rather the luxury of careful design to meet every need, responsively and responsibly.

Luxury will come from being able to immerse oneself in a unique natural setting, in complete comfort and privacy, with an unequalled range of facilities and experiences at hand. This sense of true relaxation will only be enhanced by the knowledge that Musselroe Bay has been built and managed to enhance the local ecosystems, its footprint on the earth carefully contained.

It will be the project as an indivisible whole, a well-managed union of land, flora, fauna, architecture and engineering, that will create its world-wide profile as a Tasmanian icon, an instantly recognised brand, a destination. The clusters will sit into the site with comfort and ease, but will constantly involve and interest the occupant through the subtlety of their articulation and the quality of their materials.

This complex project involves the retention and adaptive reuse of heritage sites as well as new buildings. Approximately 16000sqm of space both new-build and refurbished will create a vibrant new retail, entertainment, dining precinct and a boutique hotel, “Off Broadway”, focused on a characterful urban mix of buildings.

The project offers an outstanding opportunity for urban renewal that reflects the eclectic, historic and dynamic character of the inner city.

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.

The house itself has been conserved and adapted as lounge areas, office and small meeting rooms. The major spaces of the Centre are accommodated in a new addition, designed as two wings on a single-level. The clear separation of the three main building forms, articulated with landscaped courts, is in accordance with the conservation plan and provides a sense of openness and light.

One wing, a masonry structure, has twin adaptable meeting rooms, a catering kitchen and bar. The other, designed as a lightweight, steel-framed garden pavilion, is a 150 seat dining room. Defined by an integral floating curved timber canopy, the dining room opens to the northern verandah and gardens beyond. The simple steel and glass architecture of this new pavilion contrasts with the enclosed masonry of the old house.

The existing garden areas have been reworked to provide suitable exterior spaces for functions, and twelve 19th century stone gateposts, excavated from the site, define the generous lawns.