The City of Sydney has released plans that will see a popular city plaza become an urban alfresco dining area.
In its first major rejuvenation since the 1990s, Martin Place will be refreshed with more trees, landscaping, seating and for the first time, new outdoor dining facilities.
The council’s plan, which was prepared with advice from Gehl Architects and Hassell, also proposes to replace the Martin Place fountain with one embedded in the pavement, similar to that of Taylor Square in Darlinghurst, and relocate the entrance to Martin Place Metro Station.
The council will also relax a 2001 outdoor cafe policy that prevented dining facilities from being near the War War I memorial, the Cenotaph. The RSL will support the relaxed policy, as long as cafes do not operate on days of commemoration.
The public works will add to the multi-million dollar privately led renewal of the Martin Place precinct, including 50 Martin Place by JPW, completed in 2014, the proposed revamp of the Harry Seidler-designed MLC Centre (19 Martin Place) by Seidler & Associates and Woods Bagot, refurbishments to 1, 5 and 20 Martin Place, and at the western end, 333 George Street by Grimshaw Architects (due for completion in 2016) and a proposed office tower at 60 Martin Place by Hassell.
