20 MARTIN PLACE SYDNEY
The site at 20 Martin Place is located on the north east corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street.
CHALLENGE
Connectivity and Retail
Opportunity in Sydney’s CBD
Pembroke Real Estate Australia
20 Martin Place
Strategic Design Review
Background
Six Degrees was commissioned to recommend options for achieving the best fine grain contribution to the city, as a result of the building upgrade at 20 Martin Place, Sydney.
The client for the report is Pembroke Real Estate Australia, who are upgrading the building to suit the principle tenant requirements of the ANZ Bank among others.
CONCLUSION
The ideal outcome for the public realm from a
refurbishment of the 20 Martin Place site would be to:
Create a more active ground plane than is currently offered. The Fine Grain report and Sustainable Sydney 2030 recommend 50% active frontage as a benchmark.
Create one or more flagship retail stores to Martin Place, preferably with direct and level access from Martin Place, and not behind a colonnade, which suits this precinct.
Include the capacity for small scale retail tenancies Include the capacity for small scale retail tenancies to Pitt St so that in the event that the bank tenant relocates from the building, the street edge can easily be converted to multiple small scale tenancies to suit the format and character of retail on Pitt Street.
Minimise blank frontage along the sloping footpath edge of Martin Place due to floorplate alignment.
Minimise the office foyer in deference to active retail frontage, however ensuring adequate exposure and prominence for the foyer.
Acknowledge that a through site link is not necessarily a positive outcome in this case, particularly if it results in a poor quality link. In the long term it may be able to be established in conjunction with the neighbouring owners along Pitt Street, although the north–south connection created is not a primary movement desire line, and this is of lesser importance than other higher order objectives of urban vitality, retail provision and street activity as described above.
Provide one or more retail outlets to Hosking Place, maximizing the
SOLUTION
The site at 20 Martin Place is located on the North East corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street. It currently consists of a 20 storey office tower and a two to four storey podium.
The development application process underway seeks to modernise the office accommodation and improve the ground floor conditions in terms of how it addresses the street and the type of tenancy provided.
INSIGHTS
This repo rt has been prepared with the aim of outlining criteria for achieving the best results for the public realm as part of this process.
It does not seek to assess or influence the architectural aesthetics of the proposal, other than to suggest what aspects of the form of the building would provide the best outcome for the ground plane.
The principles of parts of Sustainable Sydney 2030 have been considered, particularly those around improving
the fine grain of the city (see page 5) . A number of issues are in play with how buildings can improve this area of the city, including what retail activity is most appropriate and how that can be configured, and how people can move around and possibly through the site.
The site at 20 Martin Place is on the edge of the
commercial office core and part of an expanding retail
core. As such, it is well place