Elizabeth Street was envisioned as a sculptural landmark that would redefine its urban context, revitalise the surrounding streetscape, and establish a bold edge to the adjacent Hyde Park. This mixed-use development was designed to combine an elegant tower with a finely articulated podium, creating a dynamic composition intended to anchor the scheme within the city’s fabric.
The distinctive tower form was proposed to rise to 51 storeys, set above an 11-storey undulating podium. The scheme was planned to accommodate a 5-star hotel with 373 rooms, generous amenities, retail spaces at ground level, and 241 high-quality residences above.
The podium arrangement was conceived to envelop the tower form, framing two landscaped courtyards. This configuration is created by two L-shaped hotel wings, separated by two fissures aligning with the tower’s central axis. The podium is conceived as a solid piece of sandstone into which routes and atria have been carved to create a cohesive dialogue between tower and podium, uniting vertical expression with the finer grain of the public realm. At ground level, a 2,580 sqm retail experience within the podium is carefully integrated to activate the streetscape and enhance pedestrian movement through the site.
The tower at the centre was designed to be read as a single, elegant form. Modelled to be embraced by the surrounding podium, the intention was for it to create a seamless transition between the skyline and street grain. With its flowing silhouette and high degree of transparency, the tower would reflect the sky and light. The proposed tower featured an asymmetrical dual core arrangement to ensure that all 7 apartments per level could have a winter garden, benefitting from views over the park.
The façade responded to the asymmetry and the movement of the sun around the building. A double-skin façade was proposed to reinforce the primary views, allowing for winter gardens along the entirety of the north-eastern side. A gentle undulation articulates the façade, blending ribbed, rippled, and fluted surfaces unified in materiality to reinforce the singularity of the form.
At street level, the podium design would express solidity and rhythm, its sandstone cladding articulated both horizontally and vertically to echo the proportions of the city block. A composition of ribbed sandstone panels interspersed with stone louvres and bronze metalwork would establish a warm and visually rich contrast to the tower.