adjaye celebrates sydney's aboriginal roots with perforated canopy

learning from sydney’s aboriginal roots

Adjaye Associates announces the completion of its George Street Plaza & Community Building, a work of architecture deeply connected to the ‘lost history’ of its site in Sydney, Australia. The architecture takes shape as a representation of the heritage and identity of the place, seeking to uncover and honor the Eora roots of the coastal region, focusing on a blending of cultures and establishing identity in a constantly evolving world. The recognition of these differences is central to the proposal, as the design team aims to borrow influences from the area’s multi-layered history to shed light on the interactions between settlers and indigenous communities across history.

Designed together with Daniel Boyd, a contemporary artist of Kudjla / Gangalu Aboriginal descent, who took inspiration from aboriginal dot painting. The proposal was first unveiled in late 2019. See designboom’s previous coverage here!

images © Trevor Mein | @trevormein

adjaye associates + daniel boyd

Adjaye Associates introduces its George Street Plaza & Community Building as a new cultural anchor point for Sydney. The architects draw influence from ‘simple unitary forms and placemaking in Aboriginal culture,’ and focus on the concept of shelter as a symbolic space of retreat from the rapidly changing city. This space is revealed and fades away through the interplay of light.

To establish a deep connection between this significant center and the site’s heritage and origins, Adjaye worked with artist Daniel Boyd on the project’s main element — a 27×34 meter perforated canopy that provides protection and brings together the community building and the plaza, creating a poetic blend of light and darkness, as well as solid and void.

‘My hope is that this new community building and George Street public plaza will become a cherished destination in Sydney’s city center, a generative place for people to connect, recharge, reflect and take a pause from the rhythm of a fast-transforming city.’ says David Adjaye.

The community building’s unique pitched roof, which weaves layers evoking a sense of place, alludes to the primary silhouette of early settlers’ houses, encapsulated in a minimalist, utilitarian steel structure. Beneath it lies an open-plan gallery and indoor-outdoor viewing platform that overlooks the plaza, featuring a versatile space inspired by indigenous concepts of enclosure and characterized by a warm, inviting timber material palette.

Seamless interactions between art and community are facilitated by connections to the plaza and nearby developments, with histories and memories interwoven into the location as one moves through it. This results in a hybrid form that combines the legacy of early settlers and industrial materiality with Aboriginal roots.

‘It provides a space of contemplation and diversity, a space to extend knowledge of experience – a multiplicity of experiences and narratives, currently extending back 60,000 years through the connection of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. Acknowledging that we can never fully comprehend our past or future is the first step in reconciling differences of perception,’ comments Daniel Boyd.

‘The idea of a public plaza provided a great opportunity for David and I to work together on the concept of relationships – how we as individuals perceive our relationship to a particular place and how collectively those relationships play out in a space.’

the steel canopy is punctured by mirror-lined openings with views to the sky
perforated light shines onto a timber clad viewing terrace