British-based architecture firm Foster + Partners has revealed its designs for what will be Sydney’s tallest office building. Circular Quay Tower, as the name suggests, will tower 263 metres over Circular Quay from its foundations at 180 George Street.

Foster + Partners has designed some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Hearst Tower in New York, ‘The Gherkin’ in London, and Deutsche Bank Place in Sydney. Earlier this year, they won the Jabal Omar competition in Saudi Arabia for the design of a new luxury hotel and serviced apartments in the city of Makkah. 

Lendlease appointed Foster + Partners to design the new $1.5 billion tower, which will be Sydney’s tallest at the time of completion. The complex will feature a public plaza that fronts onto George Street, and a secondary plaza on Rugby Place.

Foster + Partners senior executive partner Gerard Evenden, said the firm wanted Circular Quay Tower to take full advantage of its unique location only a stone’s throw from Sydney Harbour.

“The tower will be the centrepiece of an urban regeneration precinct that will reshape the northern end of the CBD into a vibrant community contributing to Sydney’s status as a global city,” Evenden said.

The design will also feature criss-crossing pedestrian laneways at different levels of the tower, that will be lined with shops, cafes and bars.

Lendlease managing director of urban regeneration, Mark Menhinnitt, said Circular Quay Tower will "provide a dynamic workplace and environment for Sydney’s future generation of office occupiers".

Foster + Partners has also been invited to join the consortium to design six new train stations in the greater Sydney Metro line.

The proposal for Circular Quay Tower is in pre-approval stage, but early signs are it will be approved by the City of Sydney and the Central Sydney Planning Committee.

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