Contents

Site Analysis .................................................................................... 2

Site Description ........................................................................................ 3
Building form & character ....................................................................... 4
Views, Vistas & landmakrs ....................................................................... 5
Access .................................................................................................... 6
Parks, outdoor spaces & Cultural icons .................................................... 7
Surrounding land use, property market,
& the most appropriate and uses for the site ............................................. 8
Vegetation, landscape & the natural environment .................................... 9
Sense of place ........................................................................................... 10

Vision....................................................................................................11

Development concept................................................................... 12
Site land use plan ..................................................................................... 13
Roads and Pedestrian pathways ............................................................... 14
Building height plan ................................................................................. 15
Sections .................................................................................................... 16
Axonometric drawing .............................................................................. 17
DevelopmentYieldTable ......................................................................... 18

This report was prepared by Lily Steer

Wang (3221491) for PLAN20323 Consulting
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Site analysis

2
Site Description
Darling Harbour is located in the promi-
nent location of Cockle Bay, Sydney. This
60 hectare waterfront precinct is adjacent
to the Sydney Central Business District and
Pyrmont. It contains a range of entertain-
ment, cultural and exhibition venues such
as the IMAX, harbour side bars and restau-
rants, Sydney Entertainment Centre, and
Sydney Convention and Exhibition centre.

The Darling Walk site is located in the

eastern side of the Darling Harbour pre-
cinct. The Darling Walk site has an elon-
gated shape and is approximately 32 900
square meters in size. Harbour Street is
the site’s eastern boundary. Harbour Street
is a distinct edge between the Sydney Cen-
tral Business District (CBD) and the Dar-
ling Harbour precinct. Land and building
frontages along this side is underused.
There is potential to activate this bound-
ary. In the north, the Darling Walk site is
bounded by the Western Distributor ele-
vated fly over. This creates some shadow-
ing issues and may potentially impede the
height of development. The southern and
western boundaries are the Chinese Garden
and Tumbalong Park respectively. As these
two boundaries are also within the Darling
Harbour precinct, their edges are blurred.

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Building form & character
The existing building on the Darling Walk
site is the former Sega World games and
amusement complex. The building on the
Darling Walk site is purpose built. This mod-
ern 2 storey structure is made from a combi-
nation of glass, steel and concrete. Despite
its height, the bulk of this building is appears
to be big due to the continuity of the façade.
Most distinctive feature of the building is the
prefabricated blue panels and the protruding
glass cone of the form Sega World entrance.

The Darling Harbour precinct at large con-

tains similar to those found on the site. They
are modern and between 2 to 3 storeys in
height. The materials used on these build-
ings include brick, steel, and hard tim-
ber wood. These buildings face the water
or pedestrian walkways. Most have open
frontages which allows great connection
with the pedestrians. This strength should
be reflected on the Darling Walk site in or-
der to maintain the character of precinct.

The eastern side of Harbour Street is lined by

high-rise towers. These modern buildings
are dense development with varying building
heights from 14 storey to 21 storey. The main
materials used on these buildings are also
glass, steel and concrete. The height differ-
ence between these buildings and that of the
site, gives a sense of comfortable enclosure.

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Views, Vistas & landmakrs

Views
The large continuous façade of the cur-
rent building on site creates no view corri-
dors when looking at the site from the east.
However from the Tumbalong Park bound-
ary, it is possible to gain views of the Sega
World building and the harbour. There is
also a view corridor of the green space be-
hind building which is visible from the pe-
destrian bridge near Bathurst Street.

Vistas
The ornamental lake offers nice vistas for
the site. There are benches facing the site
along the Tumbalong Park boundary which
gives an opportunity for pedestrians to sit
and enjoy this scenery.

Landmarks
The main Sega World building with its dis-
tinct bright red walls and blue glass panes
is a landmark. This is especially so for the
generation X and Y age group who hold fond
memories of playing inside the amusement
complex.

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access
The site is well connected by pedestrian access ways,
public transport and vehicles. It is highly accessible.

Pedestrian access to the site from the south is

available by walking from the Chinese Gar-
den and from two parallel grade separated pe-
destrian bridges. These connections create im-
portant linkages with the adjoining districts of
Chinatown and CBD. These two walkways are
paved with red patterned tiles and are wide. This
makes these pathways inviting for the users.

There is another grade separated pedestrian

bridge to the north of the Darling Walk site
Bathurst Street. Unlike the other two bridg-
es, this one is not as aesthetically pleasing.
This concrete bridge does not have tiled pav-
ing and narrow. This bridge uninviting to users.
Pedestrian access on the east side of the site is
available through traffic light intersections on
Harbour Street with Day Street and Liverpool
Street. Pedestrian access is also possible from
the west through Tumbalong Park and along
the pedestrian walkways in Darling Harbour.

The site is within close proximity to a num-

ber of public transport nodes. 400 metres to
the north of the site are Town Hall Railway Sta-
tion and QVB bus terminals. 800 metres to the
south of the site is Central Railway Station and
Railway Square bus terminals. The Darling
Harbour Ferry Wharf and the Light Rail Sta-
tion are also within walking distance to the site.

Vehicular access into the site is limited. There is

a temporary loading bay underneath the elevated
Western Distributor and a McDonald’s drive-thru.
All traffic occurs on the eastern side of the site
on Harbour Street. The street is also used as a
entrance for the cross-city tunnel. No car parking
is available on the site.

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Parks, outdoor spaces & Cultural icons

Tumbalong Park is situated to the west of the

Darling Walk site. This circular open space is
Darling Harbour’s largest green space. It con-
tains a grass area, a raised covered stage and a
back stage. The park is often to hold markets
and open air concerts. Next to Tumbalong
Park is a children’s play area which includes a
sandpit and several fixed climbing structures.
Both spaces are attractive to young families,
hence reinforcing the family and people ori-
ented nature of the Darling Harbour Precinct.

There is a man-made ornamental lake on the

site. This facility is under-used. There is no
obvious drainage system in this shallow lake
but the water does not appear to be stagnant.
Triangular in shape, the lake stretches almost
the entire length of the building and along
Tumbalong Park. On Tumbalong Park side
of the lake is a grass embankment. This cre-
ates a subtle connection between the site and
the park, and enhances the public domain.

The Outback Centre on the southern cor-

ner of the site is its only cultural icon.
However, the Centre is now closed.

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surrounding land use, property market, & the most
appropriate and uses for the site

The buildings in the Darling Harbour pre-

cinct are mainly used for commercial or
retail purposes, special use in the form
of the Palm Grove amphitheatre, Sydney
Convention and Exhibition Centre, and
the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Over-
all, the land in Darling Harbour has high
property value due to its attractiveness as
a popular destination for tourists and fam-
ily outings, and its waterfront location.

Whilst there are no residential land uses

within the Darling Harbour precinct, there
are residential apartments and hotels sur-
rounding this precinct. Some of these
include the Novotel and Crown Plaza.

The existing land uses on the Darling

Walk site is mixed use. They include food
and retail outlets, a video arcade, mini-
golf centre, the Outback Centre, and a
McDonalds drive-thru and restaurant. In
keeping with the character of the rest of
the precinct, the site should also contain
commerical and retail, but no residential.

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vegetation, landscape & the natural environment

The landscape of the Darling Walk site is

relatively flat.

There are several species of vegetation found

on the site. There is grass embankment on the
western side of the ornamental lake. Direct-
ly behind this, there is a grove of jacaranda
trees. These two features should be kept as
they provide shade and adds to the aesthetic
quality of the site.

Furthermore, the parallel walkways on the

southern end of the site are lined with trees
on the left hand side and hedges on the right
hand side. To the east, there are palm trees
underneath the Day Street pedestrian bridge
and isolated fig trees in the grassed open
space facing Harbour Street.

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Sense of place

The Darling Harbour precinct as a whole gives a feeling of vibrancy and livliness almost at
all hours of the day. This can be seen the pictures below of the vibrant night life in the Darling
Harbour precinct. However, currently the Darling Walk site seems detached from the rest of the
Darling Harbour precinct. This may be due to the minimal usage of the building’s services and
facilities.

There are also several contrasting micro-climates on the site. The walkway connecting the exist-
ing building and the Day Street pedestrian bridge and the walkway through the building to the
McDonald’s drive-thru is very much shaded and feels cold and uninviting. This also raises the
issue of safety. In contrast, the western side of the ornamental lake is sunny and inviting. This
area is more used and more open, therefore safer.

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vision
The site is envisaged to be an active mix-use space with many pedestrian life, and greater con-
nections with the rest of the Darling Harbour Precinct.

More specifically, the site will

- Be low density to maintain the character with the rest of Darling Harbour and continue
giving the precinct its sense of enclosure
- Have more frontages which will ‘inject’ more activity into the site
- Better usage of the public space and encourage more pedestrian life into the site
- Create more linkages with Harbour Street primarily through the circular open space

One source of inspiration for the design of the building footprint is inspired from European
cities. These include the Piazza del Campidoglio by Michelangelo in Rome and the Vatican
Square. Another source was Federation Square, where there is recognition that a public open
space is needed as a meeting place. This has been addressed through the circular open space.
Furthermore, the fountain in the centre acts as a landmark for people wanting to meet together.
Hyde Park’s Archibald Fountain and the space surrounding it is also another big influence.
During the opening of the 2008 Sydney Festival, the fountain was converted to an outdoor
concert space. This is an innovative use of the site which could also be applied to the site.

Similar to many buildings in traditional cities, the buildings should adopt a timeless style that can
be appropriated in the future for different needs and uses. However, this does not mean that the
materials used on these buildings should give a feeling of the older periods. The materials and
design of the building should be similar to that of the rest of Darling Harbour precinct – the use of
glass, steel and some concrete. This is so that this site will be able to fit with the rest of the precinct.

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