NSW government again refuses protection for Sirius

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Oct 30, 2017

NSW government again refuses protection for Sirius

Despite an increasing number of calls to protect the brutalist icon, the NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton has refused to grant Sirius heritage protection, saying the government plans to sell the building to a private developer who can demolish it.

Image: sydney.edu.au.
Image: The Australian Financial Review.

NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton.

Despite an increasing number of calls to protect Sirius, the NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton has refused to grant the brutalist icon heritage protection, saying the government plans to sell the building to a private developer who can demolish it.

The decision is in line with the call by Upton's predecessor, Mark Speakman, in August 2016, but that decision was challenged by the Land and Environment court in July this year.

Upton wrote, "My role is to decide whether the building has aesthetic value and, if so, whether that value is such as to satisfy (heritage value) at a state level.

"While the Sirius building is distinctive, in my view, it is not a landmark worthy of state heritage protection."

Sirius was built especially for social housing, and it has been recommended the building be protected by parties including the Australian Institute of Architects, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, Docomomo, a member of The Rocks Chamber of Commerce, the NSW Tenants Union, and local councils.