Green Square Town Square

Green Square Station was the catalyst for the development of a new cultural, residential, commercial and educational heart in South Sydney; an airport linked multi-modal transport hub supporting a lively, diverse multi-level public domain and a diverse range of uses such as community, workplace, retail, urban housing, entertainment, hospitality and educational facilities.

The Town Square masterplan had to resolve many challenges including complex existing ownership patterns, interface with existing residential precincts and heritage items, new road and services infrastructure requirements, and significant existing stormwater issues. It also sought to organise the disparate elements of major arterial roads, underground rail station, industrial warehouses and existing and proposed housing into a coherent urban structure offering the benefits of urban living to a new part of the city.

The masterplan provided a large continuous public domain activated by four buildings positioned within it. These buildings created a tripartite surface at ground level comprising the three main plazas; Transport, Civic, and Neighbourhood.

Three clear building typologies emerged in response to the public domain and open space network created, characterised from north to south as “Green Yard”, “Pebble” plaza and “Perforated” buildings. A fifth tower above Green Square Station terminated the western edge of the Town Square as an urban marker for the station and town centre when viewed from surrounding districts.

The masterplan encouraged and supported physical and social interaction through the accommodation of new building typologies mixing uses such as community facilities with urban housing, retail and flexible spaces for working, education and entertainment.

The Town Square masterplan, part of the larger Green Square Town Centre, permitted 112,000 sqm commercial, 13,000 sqm retail and 72,000 sqm residential development. The Town Centre also required significant investment in essential infrastructure, estimated at AU$109 million in 2002 dollars, proposed to be funded through a Development Rights model.