The Harrington Collection

For centuries people have walked from Warrane’s shoreline to its surrounding ridge lines. Life has been lived on the rocky platforms and via winding pathways leading from the harbour up the hill. The terrain has defined how this place has been inhabited. As a young colony, streets and stairways were cut through the rock, cottages perched on top, and its sandstone used for the finer buildings and hearths.

It was important that the scale and form of any new buildings mirror the varied scale of the significant heritage buildings of The Rocks - the pubs, warehouses and workers cottages. Each of the buildings is unique, responding to the eclectic mix of buildings nearby, and each building is thoughtfully honed to emulate the local streetscape rhythm.

The project’s street facing townhouses match the size and form of the neighbouring cottages and the horizontal rhythm of the townhouses echos the varying widths of the workers terraces across the way. The townhouses also incorporate a contemporary version of the stoop typology along the street.

Set back from the street, the penthouses, above both building 1 and building 2, adopt a more contemporary and abstract aesthetic. Sitting behind a raised parapet and above a glazed set back level, the bronze storeys recede and subtly contrast against the terracotta which will gracefully age over time. A mansard form offers a lower perceived scale and engaging roofscape for the city buildings to overlook.

The Rocks is a patchwork of varying rooftops - different sizes and materials adding to its rich texture. To compliment this, Building 1 and 2 have active rooftops, with private and communal terraces and places to gather. Importantly services on the roof are disguised by the mansard form.

The commercial use component of the building is specifically designed to bring workers into Cambridge Place layering retail and neighbourhood services, workplace and residences as the building rises to Gloucester Street with separate addresses for each.