International architects transforming former industrial waterfronts into neighbourhoods in London, Stockholm and Copenhagen are among six design teams shortlisted to shape Sydney’s newest harbourside suburb of Bays West.
The Minns government plans to shift working port operations from inner-city Glebe Island to make way for up to 8500 homes and public spaces around White Bay Power Station and the Bays West metro stop, representing the most significant reshaping of the harbour foreshore since Barangaroo.
The six teams, announced on Tuesday after an international design competition, provide Sydneysiders with a first glimpse of what they might expect of the revamped 77-hectare site.
NSW government architect Abbie Galvin said the teams had been chosen from 165 entrants and brought experience in delivering some of the world’s most significant urban renewal projects.
“We look forward to seeing how they respond to this remarkable harbourfront site and the opportunities it presents to create a vibrant, sustainable and connected neighbourhood for future generations,” Galvin said.
The shortlisted design teams are:
- Herzog & de Meuron, Silvester Fuller and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
- Allies and Morrison and Bates Smart
- Aileen Sage, MAKO Architecture, Studio Zanardo and Gallagher Studio
- BVN, Cobe and LUDO Studio
- Karakusevic Carson Architects, Breathe Architecture, SMM and lahznimmo
- Mandaworks, BKK Architects, Offcuts and Merri Studio.
The winning scheme and shortlisted design submissions will go on public exhibition in early 2027.
Shortlisted teams will be invited to prepare an urban framework responding to a detailed brief and reference scheme from Galvin’s office and the Bays West Delivery Authority. Design advisory team members will assess submissions and provide recommendations before a final decision is made.
The framework will identify the street structure, location and types of open spaces, and location and height of buildings. The chosen team would play an ongoing role in the development of the area.
Among the international firms is the prominent British architecture and urban planning practice Allies and Morrison, which was part of the team that designed King’s Cross Central – one of London’s largest redevelopments.
The 27-hectare project includes 20 restored industrial structures and 50 new buildings comprising 2000 residential units along the railway and canal hub behind King’s Cross and St Pancras stations.
Renowned Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron transformed London’s Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern. Danish architecture firm Cobe is driving the Nordhavn master plan to turn a sprawling former industrial port into a sustainable waterfront district in Copenhagen.
Swedish landscape studio Mandaworks is involved with the Kolkajen project to reimagine Stockholm’s main industrial harbour into a residential, cultural and commercial hub.
Closer to home, Sydney-based architecture firm Bates Smart is leading the design of the Parramatta Metro Precinct, while BVN architects worked on the Sydney Fish Market and Quay Quarter Tower.
Lahznimmo architects designed the Charles Street Square precinct linking the Parramatta River and Parramatta’s core, while landscape design firm Gallagher Studio is involved with the Suttons Zetland project, a former industrial site being reimagined as a residential precinct in Sydney’s inner south.
Breathe Architecture played a central role in Nightingale Village, a collection of six neighbouring buildings, designed by six different architects, comprising 200 homes in Melbourne’s inner north.
Herzog & de Meuron founding partner Jacques Herzog said Bays West represented “one of the most ambitious and exciting urban renewal projects anywhere in the world”. Karakusevic Carson Architects principal Paul Karakusevic said it could be a “global exemplar of civic ambition, public leadership and design excellence”.
Allies and Morrison partner Alfredo Caraballo and Bates Smart managing director Philip Vivian said the redevelopment would shape Sydney for generations and “help unleash Bays West’s renaissance”.
BVN principal Peter Titmuss said: “This is a rare chance to rethink a truly significant site – opening it back up to the public and creating a shared vision for this part of the harbour and the city.”
The government launched the international design competition in July, seeking expressions of interest from teams of design industry professionals, including architects, urbanists, landscape architects, planners, sustainability specialists and ecologists. It said the competition aimed to help create a “vibrant, connected and distinctly Sydney waterfront community”.
Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper said the project represented a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform Sydney’s working harbour into a vibrant new waterfront suburb, delivering thousands of new homes, beautiful public spaces and expanded public access to the harbour.
“By bringing together leading Australian and international design talent, we’re laying the foundations for a world-class precinct that will create new opportunities for our growing city and generations to come.”
Bulk port operations will be shifted from Glebe Island by 2030, and the metro station is due to open in 2032.
Sydneysiders will help name the new suburb. A minimum of 10 per cent of homes will be affordable or essential worker housing.
Galvin previously said there had been “lessons learnt” from the divisive state government-led redevelopment of the nearby Barangaroo foreshore, which was also subject to a design competition before the winning vision was dumped and the scheme revised. She said Bays West would emphasise residential, public and cultural facilities, rather than the commercial workplaces of Barangaroo.
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