150 Liverpool Street

Darlinghurst, NSW
2004

Located between the high-rise towers of the city of Sydney and the low scaled residential precinct of East Sydney, 150 Liverpool Street is an “L” shaped site with 3 street frontages.  The street corner is occupied by an existing 2 storey Victorian era restaurant which does not form part of this site.  Rather than simply folding the building form around this existing structure, it has instead been divided into 2 distinct elements.  The primary element runs through the site from the laneway on the north to the main street frontage on the south.  The secondary element is square in plan and occupies the corner of the laneway and the secondary street frontage.  Material and colour as well as subtle changes to the architectural language differentiate the 2 elements.  Both blocks are saturated in colour, the primary in bone and the secondary in orange.  Three large east facing balconies on the primary block are wrapped in orange cladding to provide a visual link to the secondary orange block, while both blocks hinge around 2 bone coloured lift and stair cores.

There are 5 unit types within the 35 unit development as well as 5 retail spaces along the main street frontage.  The orange block contains one 2 bedroom unit per floor while the majority of units within the bone block are 2 storey 2 bedroom units which cross over the circulation corridor on alternate floor levels to allow a dual aspect and natural cross ventilation.  These units have double height north facing living areas.  Single level 1 bedroom units occupy the alternate floor levels on the south side of the building with the eastern units having balconies offering district views and morning sunshine.  Studio units occupy the northern side of the entry level, one level above the basement carpark entered from the laneway.

Colour is integral to the interiors where kitchens form concentrated areas of complete colour saturation with the options originating from the standard range of Vola tap colours.  The floors are saturated planes of Pirelli rubber within an otherwise neutral bone coloured shell.

External operable aluminium louvres are used on all faces of the building to provide sun control to the north and east and privacy from the busy intersection of Liverpool and Oxford Streets on the south.  These louvres also provide scale and texture to the main street elevation.  

The building structure is composed of precast concrete wall panels and floor planks with the orange block clad in Vitrapanel compressed fibre cement sheet panels above a ceramic tiled base.ab contains hydronic underfloor heating as well as there being a double sided Jetmaster fireplace for winter months.  The exterior cladding is traditional galvanized corrugated steel sheets with concealed gutters at the junction of the roof and walls.

Builder: Infinity Constructions
Photographer: Ross Honeysett + Rocket Mattler