The release of Aqualand’s development vision is a major milestone for Barangaroo, one of the most successful urban renewal projects in the world, and a leader for design and sustainability as the first carbon neutral precinct in Australia. 

Aqualand Project Director, Rod McCoy said Central Barangaroo would be a place for people, where the buildings will be surrounded by new parkland and designed to create one of Australia’s finest public spaces. “Our goal is to create a truly exceptional precinct that is beautiful, welcoming to all, with a variety of well designed indoor and outdoor public spaces that can be enjoyed at all times of the year.”

“Central Barangaroo will feature a new two hectare waterfront park for visitors and locals to enjoy and delivers on the long-held promise that more than half of the Barangaroo precinct is accessible public open space.” 

Central Barangaroo, to be developed by Aqualand in partnership with Scentre Group, will become one of Australia’s most exciting mixed-use precincts, activated day and night by a diverse range of uses and new cultural spaces, and easily accessible by the new Barangaroo Metro Station. 

A new lifestyle and cultural precinct at Nawi Cove will enliven the Barangaroo Cutaway and create a major new civic destination for Sydney. Nawi Cove and Central Barangaroo will form part of an evolving cultural network that connects with, and energises, Millers Point, Walsh Bay, and The Rocks. Rod McCoy said, “Nawi Cove will serve as a lifestyle and cultural gateway that celebrates arrival into the city and onto Sydney’s western harbour foreshore with an extraordinary range of experiences for all ages” 

The Central Barangaroo precinct will include campus style offices that open to a waterfront park, delivering a new benchmark for workplace accommodation that will help revitalise the Sydney CBD and further enhance Barangaroo’s reputation as the most dynamic commercial precinct in Australia. Central Barangaroo will offer a limited number of residential apartments at the northern end of the precinct with stunning views of Sydney icons, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, while providing an immediate connection to Barangaroo Reserve, Nawi Cove, and Sydney harbour foreshore. 

As the retail partner for Central Barangaroo, Scentre Group’s vision is to create a world-class Living Destination as part of its investment in the project. The retail, social and lifestyle destination located on ground level and connecting through to the metro concourse will bring together a mix of extraordinaryfashion, dining, entertainment, leisure and technology experiences that cater to the needs and interests of Sydney as a global city and its visitors.

The development of Central Barangaroo will provide a major jobs and investment boost for Sydney, with over 22,000 jobs to be created in the new precinct generating economic benefits of over $5 billion to the NSW economy – building on the $17.8 billion the Barangaroo precinct has generated to date. 

In addition to the huge economic dividend created by Aqualand’s investment in Central Barangaroo, the precinct will be one of the most connected places in Australia – leveraging the NSW Government’s investment in a new metro station at Barangaroo, which will welcome people from across Greater Sydney and provide a gateway to the new precinct. 

Rod McCoy said, “a vital feature of Central Barangaroo is its accessibility. The delivery of the new metro station, the new ferry wharves on the Barangaroo foreshore, new pedestrian links to Millers Point, Walsh Bay and the Rocks, and the connections back into the city through Wynyard Walk and Gas Lane, will make this precinct one of the most accessible and connected places for workers, residents, and visitors in Australia.” 

Central Barangaroo will showcase architecture from a handpicked team of the best Australian and international practices who will design a composition of buildings of exceptional quality for the precinct. The involvement of Australian architects, Durbach Block Jaggers, Smart Design Studio, and John Wardle Architects, together with David Chipperfield Architects from London, would further enhance the project’s reputation as a global benchmark for urban renewal. This work will complement the exceptional ground level and lower ground retail destination designed and delivered by Scentre Group. 

The planning application for Central Barangaroo is expected to be placed on public exhibition by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment shortly.