The Sydney Fish Market has announced plans for a $250m development with ambitions to achieve a 5 Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
Located in close proximity to the CBD at the head of Blackwattle Bay, the renowned market and tourist attraction hopes to revitalise the area while prioritising sustainability, embracing energy efficiency and encouraging water and waste-saving initiatives.
Architecture firm BVN says the new market will be designed to be as permeable as possible to maximise natural ventilation and minimise the need for air conditioning.
To achieve a 5 Star Green Star rating – Australia’s building rating program recognising sustainable design, construction and operations – the plans will incorporate environmental designs optimising the sun, greenery and winds; introducing innovative systems to minimise consumption and utilise waste outputs; and the collection and recycling of fish offal.
It will also make use of a sweeping timber and aluminium roof, inspired by fish scales, that will harvest rainwater and capture solar energy.
“For such an iconic Sydney attraction to embed environmental and social sustainability as a core function sets a great example for others to follow and represents best practice,” says GBCA Chief Executive Office Romilly Madew. “It also shows the importance of Green Star and how, increasingly, Sydney’s iconic buildings and precincts are aiming for and achieving certification, such as the Sydney Opera House, Barangaroo and Sydney Airport.”
Established in 1945, the Sydney Fish Market is the third largest in the world and the biggest in the southern hemisphere. According to a 2016 report from Deloitte, it attracts over three million visitors a year.
“Relocating the fish market to the new site will return Blackwattle Bay’s foreshore to the public, improve pedestrian and cycling links and connect more of Pyrmont to the water as part of the long-awaited revitalisation of the area,” says NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in an UrbanGrowth NSW press release.
The design is led by Danish architects 3XN, in partnership with Sydney firms BVN and Aspect Studios. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin mid-2019, with a targeted opening of 2023.
An architect at 3XN tells HVAC&R News that the project’s development application will go public in the next week or two, with more specifics on the design available at that time.
More information about the plans will be available at two information sessions to be held at Barnabas Church in Ultimo on December 4 and December 8. More details can be found here.
UrbanGrowth NSW will also provide the public with the opportunity for comment during the development application exhibition period from December 6, 2018 to February 1, 2019.