In the hierarchy of Sydney’s most beautiful streets, the Pacific Highway at St Leonards is a long way from the top.
Dotted with nondescript commercial buildings, the road winds its way from Crows Nest in the south, through the business district near the train station and Royal North Shore Hospital, past a pocket of residential streets and then north towards Lane Cove, Artarmon, Chatswood and beyond.
While it’s not much to look at today, big things are in store for St Leonards, in more ways than one.
The suburb is already known as a commercial and transport hub, with regular bus services and a rail station on the north shore line that connects to the city in the south and to the northern outskirts of Sydney, joining the main northern line at Hornsby.
By 2024, public transport links will be turbocharged, courtesy of a new bus interchange and the scheduled opening of the Sydney Metro City and Southwest – the second stage of a gargantuan metro project that kicks off with services to the city’s northwest.
A new station nearby on the western fringe of Crows Nest village will form part of a metro line from Chatswood under Sydney Harbour and through the Sydney CBD to Sydenham. The line between Sydenham and Bankstown is also being converted to metro.
Unlike many parts of Sydney, mass transit planning and construction has commenced before the population boom. And boom it will, with rezonings paving the way for a spate of high-rise towers being built or proposed on land near the stations. According to government forecasts, the population of St Leonards will nearly double, from about 2300 in 2016 to nearly 4500 in 2036.
The next project to hit the market is one of the first in a new wave of towering apartment structures near the station. Eighty Eight by JQZ is a $1.6 billion project on a 6000-square-metre site south of the Pacific Highway, about 150 metres from the existing train station and 300 metres from the future metro station.
The project is about 150 metres from the existing train station and 300 metres from the future metro station. Photo: Artist’s impression
Destined to redefine the streetscape as well as the skyline, Eighty Eight is made up of three buildings, the tallest of which is a 47-storey mixed-use tower designed by PTW architects. The practice has also drawn up plans for a 26-storey apartment building and a 15-storey commercial building fronting the highway. The first homes to launch sit within the tallest tower.
CBRE Residential Projects director Ben Stewart says the site – near an established residential area – is a landmark development in terms of amenity. “There will be good retail, fine-dining eateries, the convenience of a supermarket and new laneways providing easy access to St Leonards station,” Stewart says.
A new 780-square-metre public plaza is to be built at the site. Photo: Artist’s impression
Renderings show three distinctly different buildings. At ground level, the high-rise tower’s fine detail and materials palette reflect the crafted, historic architecture found in nearby residential streets. As the building rises, the architecture changes to become a more simple glass expression towards the top.
The mid-rise apartment has a highly articulated facade in which the elements appear to move in and out, like drawers in a bureau, while the commercial building is a sleek, glazed structure fronting the highway.
A new 780-square-metre public plaza is to be built over the existing rail line. The plaza will feature generous landscaped areas and paved thoroughfares. A new public library is also on the way, and a major supermarket will form part of a multi-storey retail and dining precinct.
Apartment residents will have access to resort-style communal areas in the mid-rise tower, including a 25-metre pool and landscaped gardens with harbour and district views.
The agent says he expects strong demand from owner-occupiers already living on the north shore.
“These are very good-sized apartments with beautiful views, good security and good finishes,” Stewart says. “When people see what’s happening with St Leonards and Crows Nest, they’ll see it’s a great opportunity.”
Henderson & Co’s interiors draw inspiration from the elements of land, air and water, founder Angus Henderson says.
“The design direction was formed using the site’s prominent position on the ridge, watching over its harbour surrounds,” Henderson says. “We gleaned cues from the Sydney Harbour foreshore, with its sinuous shoreline and its sparkling body of water as foundational elements in treating both form and material.”
The notion of air was taken from the height of the residential buildings, creating elevated “sky homes”. The final element, land, sees textures, colours and metals deployed to create high-end finishes. Apartments offer curved brass cladding on island kitchens, custom brass handles and detailing, integrated fridges and Gaggenau appliances.
“There have been good examples of luxury apartments in Sydney’s CBD recently but I think Sydney and the north shore has rarely seen anything like this,” Henderson says.
When the first sod was turned on a nearby Mirvac development nearly a year ago, that company’s chief executive and managing director, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, said the rejuvenation of St Leonards would move it away from being a “pretty soulless area and a transit stop, and into a destination in its own right”.
While hoardings and construction sites are arguably even more unsightly than the drab buildings they have replaced, the future for this part of Sydney looks bright.
PTW practice leader Simon Parsons sees a suburb with enormous potential.
“If you look at the northern ridge of Sydney, extending from the harbour to Hornsby, there are these great potential centres along the ridge – North Sydney, St Leonards, Chatswood then Hornsby,” Parsons says. “St Leonards is probably the one with the greatest potential.”
With its hospital and commercial precincts, future transport links and the push to accommodate more people in new workplaces and homes, the suburb appears to be finally on its way to realising that potential.
“It should be a great place. It should have a great public domain … This project, in terms of the new public spaces within the building and the nature of the architecture, is the keystone of the public domain within St Leonards.”
article from domain.com.au by Elicia Murray