Blueprint for responsible development
It’s big. It’s beautiful. It’s Barangaroo South – and it’s built on sustainability.
From vision to reality, sustainability has always been a core operating principle for Sydney CBD’s new waterside precinct.
Sustainability at Barangaroo South:
What it’s not: a tick-the-box token corporate gesture.
What it is: the fundamental basis for development decisions across the project.
More than a decade ago it was an abandoned container port. Today the recently completed Barangaroo South precinct is an integral part of the city’s economic and social fabric. It showcases the NSW Government’s successful public–private partnership model, delivering a humming commercial, residential and leisure precinct with benefits extending beyond its sought-after location.
Mitchell, former General Manager for Sustainability at developer Lendlease, says: “We actually created the first climate resilience plan for a major urban precinct. It was the first project globally to be able to have central precinct infrastructure, and that shared energy, water and waste infrastructure allowed a step change in sustainability within the built form and the buildings themselves.”
"It's a really wonderful benchmark for other big developments around the world. Yes, it's sustainable but it's also a living part of Sydney.
It’s been embraced by this city – it's loved, it's vibrant, it's active."
Anita Mitchell, Chief Executive, Placemaking NSW
Positive for People & Planet
According to Infrastructure NSW’s Chief Executive Tom Gellibrand, sustainability at Barangaroo South “has been a key feature from Day One.” “It’s been embraced by the Government and Lendlease,” he says.
Adds Darryl Stuckey, Lendlease’s Head of Corporate Sustainability: “We’ve introduced market-leading energy and waste management systems that are having a genuinely positive impact for people and the planet. Stuckey says Barangaroo South is Australia’s first Climate Active carbon neutral certified precinct – the result of a major collaboration between Government, tenants, residents and building owners.
"One of the initiatives I'm most proud of relates to intercepting waste coming from the food court and restaurants in the precinct. As much as 20 tonnes of waste per week is captured, moved into the buildings’ basement, processed and then taken to farms to be used beneficially."
Chief Executive Tom Gellibrand, Infrastructure NSW
Sustainability In All Its Forms
Sustainability at Barangaroo South is about the environment but, importantly, it’s also about people. The precinct’s approach features environmental and social sustainability. One of the most important social sustainability initiatives was the Barangaroo Skills Exchange (BSX) – a purpose-built onsite learning hub that trained more than 10,000 workers and apprentices during construction.The program delivered nationally recognised qualifications, literacy and numeracy support, and mentoring for mature-age workers. The BSX generated more than $78 million in socio-economic benefit and became a blueprint for skills-based urban regeneration.
“The Skills Exchange wasn’t just about training, it was about creating opportunity,” Anita Mitchell says. “We gave people access to qualifications they might never have achieved otherwise.”
Leading by Example
Major commercial tenants such as global professional services firms PwC and KPMG have highlighted the importance of the development’s sustainability initiatives in their organisations’ decisions to move to Barangaroo South – and renew their leases.
Sustainability highlights include:
- 6 Star Green Star (World Leadership) Design & As Built v1.1 for International Towers’ commercial buildings where PwC and KPMG are headquartered
- 6 Star Green Star (World Leadership) Communities Pilot v0.2 recertification for the precinct
- 5 Star Green Star (Australian Excellence) for the Anadara & Alexander residential buildings
- Platinum WELL Health and Wellbeing awards for International Towers
- Two office buildings - International House Sydney and Daramu House - are constructed from ethically sourced engineered timber and recycled Australian hardwoods
A Shift in Thinking
Summing up the strategy that delivered innovative sustainability programs across the precinct, Lendlease Executive Director Kimberley Jackson says: “For many previous developments, sustainability was seen simply as icing on the cake. Barangaroo really changed that perception. Sustainability is now a ticket to play. It has triggered a massive shift in terms of the thinking about how developments are done these days.”
Artist credit: Lucy Simpson, ‘Gaawaa’
Created by Yuwaalaraay artist and designer Lucy Simpson - 'Gaawaa' takes its name from the Yuwaalaraay word for (deep) water. It holds story and remembers the currents, tides, and trails made by watercraft cutting across the Sydney Harbour.
The waters of the harbour once extended over the site of Barangaroo, with the natural shoreline near present-day Hickson Road. Through this narrative we remember the important story of water, its innate ability to connect and adapt, and to sustain life, and the power it holds to forge Country and bind together relationships. This is a story of strength, connection and continuity, and it is a testament to Barangaroo, the woman after whom this place is named - and the many fierce, strong women like her who care for Country and water and hold together and make strong our communities.
@gmiyay gaawaamiyay.co