AMP Capital has engaged Danish architecture practice 3XN to design a new forty-nine storey tower at 50 Bridge Street and the master plan for Quay Quarter Sydney.
The practice was selected over six other local and international firms in a multi-stage international design competition that included Francis-Jone Morehen Thorp (FJMT), Ingenhoven + Architectus, MVRDV and two Pritzker prize winning practices, SANAA and Morphosis.
The building will replace the current AMP Centre in Circular Quay, a forty-five storey modernist building designed by Peddle Thorp & Walker (PTW) in 1976.
The proposed new AMP Centre by 3XN.
3XN’s design is made up of five multi-storey blocks, stacked on top of one another and rotating at different angles to enhance views towards the Opera House and the Harbour, as well as shielding itself from the harsh sun. The lower volume is oriented west to capture the energy of the surrounding neighbourhood and engage in an open dialogue with the street.
Each block includes a central atrium, breaking down the mass of the internal volumes to make the spaces more intimate and social and encourage connectivity and interaction in the workspaces. The atria are connected throughout to external terraces created by the shifting blocks, which draw in valuable daylight.
“This project looks at the ‘high rise’ in an entirely new way, from both the inside out and outside in,” said Kim Herforth Nielsen, founding partner and creative director of 3XN. “Its dynamic, shifted massing maximises views for all of the building’s users while also creating expansive open spaces that encourage the possibility for interaction, knowledge sharing and vertical connectivity.”
3XN is the first Danish architecture firm to design a major building in Sydney since Jørn Utzon’s Opera House. Construction of the building is set to begin in 2018.
Kim Herforth-Neilson is the keynote speaker at the Old School / New School conference on education and design in Sydney on 14 October. He spoke to ArchitectureAU about the power of architecture to create positive change. Download full program for Old School / New School and buy tickets here.
