45-53 Macleay Street,
Potts Point

Stage 1 Concept Development Application establishing the building envelope that will guide the redevelopment of the site for Shop Top Housing.

Welcome

Welcome to the project listing for 45-53 Macleay Street, Potts Point. The Project listing explains the Concept Development Application that has been lodged with the City of Sydney by Time & Place. This project listing will be updated with new information and announcements throughout the development process. We encourage you to revisit this listing regularly to stay up to date.

This page has been prepared to help local residents understand the development application so they can be better informed about the project.

We welcome any questions or comments about this project, which can be asked using the feedback form at the end of this listing.

The information presented has been prepared by UrbanTalk in conjunction with Time & Place and was approved by Time & Place prior to listing.

To learn more about UrbanTalk, please visit our About Us or How it Works page.

Proposed Building Envelope
Source: SJB Architects

Project details

Address
45-53 Macleay Street
Local Government Area
City of Sydney
Project Type
Residential
Status
Concept Development Application Lodged 15th September 2022 Number: D/2022/960
Developer
Time & Place
Architect

SJB

Planning Consultant

Urbis

About

Overview

This project involves the staged redevelopment of the site at 45-53 Macleay Street, Potts Point. Refer to the photographs below. The first stage in the project involves obtaining development consent for a Concept Development Application (Concept DA) that establishes the land uses that can be built on the site and the built form of the development. A Concept DA is also referred to as a Stage 1 DA. The Concept DA was lodged with the City of Sydney on the 15th of September 2022.

The site viewed from Macleay Street
The site viewed from McDonald Street
The Concept DA is seeks approval for:

1. A ‘mixed use’ building comprising of retail floor space that could be used as a café and neighbourhood shops at ground level and residential floor space above. The building is defined as ‘shop top’ housing under the City of Sydney planning controls. The Concept DA does not seek approval for a set number of apartments, as explained in point 3 below.

2. Two basement parking levels that can accommodate up to 36 cars, a loading dock, building services and storage space. The basement is accessed from McDonald Street using the existing driveway.

3. A building envelope control that complies with the City of Sydney height and floor space controls and establishes a maximum building height of 35 metres (inclusive of lift over-runs and balconies), accommodates 250 square metres of retail and 3,617 square metres of residential floor space.

Architectural drawings of the envelope are provided below ‘Building Envelope Architectural Drawings’ and explain the setback distances from neighbouring properties and street frontages.

3-dimensional view of the building envelope.

The Concept DA is not seeking development approval for any physical works. If the Concept DA is approved, a detailed development application (referred to as the Stage 2 DA) would be prepared and lodged with the City of Sydney, seeking approval for the new ‘shop top housing’ development.

The Concept DA was on public exhibition until 7th December 2022. The Concept DA documentation can be viewed on the Council website using the DA Tracker. During the public exhibition period, local residents are invited to make a submission to the Council about the project.

You can view the Concept DA on the DA tracker using the link below.

Why is the Concept DA Important?

The Concept DA is important because the building envelope control establishes the maximum height and volume of development that can be built on the site. It also establishes the footprint of where the building will be placed on the site. Once approved, any future development on the site will be within the envelope. This includes lift over-runs and balconies.

The Concept DA is accompanied by technical reports that present the findings of detailed site analysis investigations. These reports evaluate the impact the future development of the site will have on the surrounding Potts Point locality and the amenity of neighbours. These reports include:

  • A Statement of Environmental Effects
  • A Design Report incorporating solar access investigations
  • A Landscape Concept
  • A View Sharing Report
  • Heritage Impact Statement
  • A Traffic and Transport Assessment
  • A Qualitative Wind Assessment
  • Environmental Sustainable
  • Development Report

Each of these reports forms part of the Concept DA documentation and are available to view on the City of Sydney DA Tracker. A summary of the key findings in these reports is provided in the project listing.

The Planning Approval Process

Stage 1 Concept Development Application
Design Competition
Stage 2 Development Application

City of Sydney Design Excellence Requirements

For this project, an architectural design competition will be undertaken following the approval of the Concept DA. The planning provisions contained in the Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 (Sydney LEP 2012) require that buildings taller than 25 metres, located outside of the Central Sydney CBD, where a Concept DA is required, must undertake a competitive design process prior to the lodgement of a detailed DA (the Stage 2 DA).

Key features of the Design Excellence Strategy include:

• A minimum of three competing architects will be invited to participate in the Competitive Design Process. Competitors will be required to partner with a landscape architect.

• A Jury will be established comprising of two representatives appointed by Time & Place and two independent members nominated by the City of Sydney. The Jury will select the preferred scheme.

• An independent observer appointed by the City of Sydney will observe the Competitive Design Process to ensure it runs smoothly.

The architect of the winning scheme will be commissioned by Time & Place to prepare the Stage 2 DA. The City of Sydney is committed to design excellence, and an Applicant who proceeds with a competitive design process can be awarded a 10% floor space bonus if the selected architectural scheme has sufficient merit. The provision for the award of additional floor space is established in the City of Sydney planning controls ( Clause 6.21 SLEP 2012).

Project Status

Building Envelope Architectural Drawings

Architectural drawings detailing the proposed building envelope have been prepared by SJB Architects. These plans can be found in Appendix B of the Concept Plan DA documentation on the City of Sydney DA Tracker. The plans show how the proposed building envelop gradually steps in from the southern, western and eastern site boundary as the building increases in height.

The legend below applies to all architectural drawings. The outline of the existing apartment building is shown on the plans as a dashed blue line. The proposed envelope is coloured yellow.

Site Description

The Site

The site address is 45-53 Macleay Street Potts Point (Refer to the photographs below). It is legally described as SP 934. ‘SP’ stands for Strata Plan because it is a stratum residential apartment building. Time & Place are in the process of acquiring the building, and they have obtained the consent of the Owners Corporation to lodge the Concept DA.

The existing residential apartment building comprises a 12 storey building containing 80 x 1 bedroom and studio apartments. It is located in the northeastern part of the site. Car parking occupies the remainder of the ground floor and level 1. There is limited landscaping, and no communal or private open space is provided for the existing development. Planter boxes align the Macleay Street and McDonald Street frontages.

The site is located on the western side of Macleay Street. It has three street frontages. Its primary street frontage is Macleay Street, which forms its eastern boundary. Its northern frontage is to McDonald Street, which provides driveway access to the site. Its western frontage is to McDonald Lane. Its southern boundary adjoins 55 Macleay Street, which is occupied by a 4 storey hotel known as ‘Whitehouse’. Refer Satellite Location Plan.

Macleay Street elevation
McDonald Street and Lane elevation

Neighbouring Development

Sitting on the western side of Macleay Street, the neighbouring properties include:

• The east by the 10 storey ‘Macleay Regis’ apartment building at 10-12 Macleay Street, one of the most interesting and grand buildings of Potts Point and a heritage-listed building.
• The west in McDonald Lane by predominantly 2-4 level Victorian era terrace housing and small apartment buildings.
• The south by the ‘White House’ hotel at 55 Macleay Street, the heritage-listed ‘Yellow House’ building at 57-59 Macleay Street and further south on the corner of Challis Avenue, the heritage-listed ‘Wirrina’ flat building at 61-63 Macleay Street.
• The north by 3 and 4 storey residential flat buildings and 2-4 storey Victorian era terrace housing.

Site Context & Local Character

SJB Architecture analysed how the site interacts with the Potts Point locality which, is referred to as its locational context.

Key features of its locational context are:

  • Its location in the heart of the high-density Potts Point village and shopping spine.
  • The variety of building forms that align Macleay Street include multi-storey apartment buildings, smaller 3-4 storey flat buildings and Victorian-era terrace housing. The majority of these buildings address and interact with Macleay Street at a street level, providing ground floor cafés, restaurants, bars and speciality shops that add colour and interest for pedestrians. The existing development at 45-53 Macleay Street is an exception as it turns it back on the street, presenting its garage levels to the footpath.
  • The location of taller buildings generally towards the northern end of Macleay Street takes advantage of the opportunity for harbour and city views. The design of the proposed building envelope has given careful consideration to view impact from neighbouring properties and has sought to minimise impacts through the careful crafting of the building form.
  • The significant boulevard of Plane trees that align the Macleay Street frontage is intrinsic to the character of the Potts Point locality. The Plane trees soften the building forms, provide shade in summer and, because they are deciduous, sunlight in winter. The proposal recognises the important contribution these street trees make to the landscape and heritage character of Potts Point and provides for their retention.
  • While the site is not a heritage item, it is located within the Potts Point Heritage Conservation Area listed under the Sydney LEP 2012. Macleay Street provides a mixture of 10 storey high-rise early 20th-century apartments and late 19th century 3 storey residential and commercial buildings. Significant 20th-century apartment blocks include 4 Macleay Street, Macleay Regis at 10-2 Macleay Street, Seldson at 16 and 20 Macleay Street. The existing building on the site is identified in the heritage controls of the City of Sydney as ‘detracting’ from the Heritage Conservation Area.
Original buildings that were removed in the early 1960s to make way for the current structure
Source: City of Sydney Archives
The current structure at 45-53 Macleay Street after completion in 1964
Source: City of Sydney Archives

The Design

The Design Approach

The design approach included:

  1. Establishing if the existing building could be reused.
  2. Establishing design and landscape principles to guide the building envelope form.
  3. Testing the building envelope.

Adaptive Reuse or Start Afresh

The starting point for this project was determining whether the existing apartment building was suitable for adaptive reuse or whether it should be demolished to provide a blank canvas for its redevelopment. Following an extensive investigation by SJB Architects and Time & Place, it was determined that the existing structure could not be suitably adapted for the following reasons:

  1. To comply with current environmental sustainability requirements (BASIX) and Apartment Design Guide (ADG) standards, approximately 65 % of the existing building would require demolition, and a further 15% would need to be significantly altered.
  2. To comply with ADG standards, every second floor would require demolition to provide sufficient floor to ceiling heights.
  3. It would not be possible to introduce a retail use at the Macleay Street frontage as required under the City of Sydney planning controls.
  4. The existing apartments do not have any balconies. Current ADG Standards require all new apartments to have balcony areas, resulting in significant impacts to the existing fabric.
  5. The existing building does not have basement parking. The excavation of basement levels under the existing structure would be high-risk and very expensive.
  6. The existing building does not reflect the building form provided for under the City of Sydney Council planning controls for the site. It is not possible to provide a stepped building form and a 3 level podium on the street edge.
  7. The existing building is under the City of Sydney allowable floor space controls. Adding additional floor space to the site (as illustrated below) would result in a building that would have a significant and negative view and solar access impact on neighbouring properties.
  8. The ability for the existing building to be engineered and constructed in a manner that would be able to comply with the Design and Building Practitioners Act is severely limited.
Existing building form
Source: SJB Architects
Existing buliding form with allowable floorpace floor space with adaptive reuse

Adaptive reuse results in a larger building footprint and bulkier form that has view and solar access impacts for neighbours.

Source: SJB Architects

Design and Landscape Principles

The proposed building envelope responds to the following design and landscape principles that were formulated by SJB Architects for this project:

  1. Maximise view sharing and minimise overshadowing of neighbouring apartment and hotel buildings to the east and to the south.
  2. Activate the Macleay Street frontage of the site by providing floor space for shops and cafe uses at ground level.
  3. Ensure any new building fully complies with the City of Sydney 35 metre height control that applies to the site.
  4. Locate the tallest part of the building form on the northeast corner of the site, where the existing building is located.
  5. Provide the greatest possible setback off the southern boundary to ensure the best view outcome for neighbouring properties.
  6. Introduce a 3 level podium as required by the City of Sydney to complement the smaller-scale buildings at the Macleay and McDonald Street frontages that can incorporate retail opportunities and public art.
  7. Maintain existing vehicle entry to the site from McDonald Street and move the parking underground into basement levels.
Providing space for retail and cafes to activate the Macleay Street frontage is one of the design and landscape principles
Public art is another one of the design and landscape principles
  1. Design the basement levels to accommodate service delivery and waste removal vehicles so that these activities no longer need to be undertaken from the footpath. This will improve the amenity of the locality.
  2. Comply with the City of Sydney floor space provisions and, through the design excellence process, aim to achieve a 10% floor space bonus.
  3. Incorporate generous areas of communal open space at ground level for the enjoyment of future residents.
  4. Soften the western frontage of the site that backs onto McDonald Lane by incorporating a deep soil landscaped setback of 8 metres that can support significant trees.
  5. Aim to exceed minimum environmental sustainability benchmarks being a 40% BASIX energy target and 50% BASIX water target. Aspire to a 7 Star Nathers Rating through thermally efficient construction.
  6. Incorporate public art to provide colour and interest to the Potts Point Locality and contribute to its cultural wealth and identity.
  7. Respects the heritage significance of the Potts Point Conservation Area and the individual items of heritage significance located close to the site.

Case Study

To demonstrate how a new building could be developed on the site under the proposed building envelope control, Time & Place engaged SJB Architecture to design a residential apartment building, which is referred to in the Concept DA as the ‘Reference Scheme’. The Concept Plan DA does not seek development approval for the Reference Scheme. It has been prepared so that the City of Sydney and neighbouring properties can understand how a new building on the site will integrate with the Potts Point locality, perform against the Australian design standards for apartment buildings and impact the amenity of neighbours with regard to view sharing and overshadowing.

Key features of the Reference Scheme include:

  • It comprises of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments
  • It has ground-floor neighbourhood shops and a cafe at the Macleay Street frontage. The existing development turns it back on Macleay Street, presenting car parking grills interspersed with landscaped planter boxes.
  • It allocates 337 square metres or 26% of the ground level to communal open space and landscape planting.
  • It incorporates a deep soil zone of 119 square metres (9% of site area) along the McDonald Lane frontage to create a green landscape edge.
  • A roof top garden terrace is provided on part of the roof as the private open space area for the penthouse apartments on the top floors. Solar panels are incorporated on the remaining part of the roof.
  • A basement is provided across two levels providing parking for 36 vehicles and a loading dock.
Artist’s Impression – indicative reference scheme
Source: SJB Architects

Statistics At A Glance

ElementProposal
Site Area1,289 square metres
Total Gross Floor Area (GFA)Residential 3,617 square metres
Retail 250 square metres
Total 3,867 square metres
Total GFA 4,253 square metres that includes a 10% design excellence floor space bonus
Total Floor Space Ratio (FSR)3:1 Allowable under City of Sydney controls
3.3:1 with 10% design excellence floor space bonus if awarded by City of Sydney
Landscape Area 26% based on Reference Scheme
Deep Soil9% based on Reference Scheme
Maximum Height Above Ground Level35 metres allowable under City of Sydney controls
(Includes lift over-runs)
Total Parking2 basement levels accommodating 36 cars and a loading dock
Source: SJB 2021 and Urbis 2021

Planning Considerations

Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012

Land Use Zoning

The site is zoned B4 Mixed Use under the Sydney LEP 2012. The proposed retail and residential development is defined as “shop top housing” and is a permissible development with the Consent of the City of Sydney in the B4 Zone.

Height & Floor Space Controls

Under clause 4.3 of the Sydney LEP 2012 a maximum height limit of 35 metres applies to the site. The proposed building envelope is fully compliant with the height control.

Under Clause 4.4 of the Sydney LEP 2012 a maximum floor space ratio (FSR) of 3:1 is permitted. The building envelope fully complies with the FSR control and as discussed below can accommodate a 10% floor space bonus should it be awarded for design excellence.

Design Excellence

Clause 6.21 of the Sydney LEP 2012 requires a competitive design competition to be undertaken as the building is located in Potts Point and exceeds 25 metres in height. After the Concept DA is approved, a competitive design competition will be held in accordance with this requirement. If the scheme is of sufficient architectural merit, the City of Sydney can decide to award the 10% floor space bonus. The Reference Scheme illustrated in the case study above incorporates the 10% bonus.

Heritage Considerations

While the site is not a listed heritage item and is listed as a ‘detracting’ item on the Sydney DCP, heritage maps in schedule 5 of the SLEP 2012 places the site within the Potts Point Heritage Conservation Area and is in the vicinity of several individually listed heritage items. The Concept DA is accompanied by a Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) prepared by Urbis.

The City of Sydney has identified that the existing apartment on the site is regarded as a ‘detracting element’ in the conservation area. The HIS report concludes that ‘the proposal provides an opportunity to replace the building with a high-quality infill development that, through the design excellence process, will integrate and respond positively with the adjacent items of heritage significance’.

Sydney Development Control Plan 2012

The Statement of Environmental Effects prepared by Urbis that forms part of the Concept DA documentation incorporates a thorough assessment of the proposal against the DCP provisions. The assessment concludes that the proposal complies with the following DCP provisions:

  • Public art requirements. The Concept DA is accompanied by a Preliminary Public Art Plan that identifies opportunities to incorporate a public art installation as either an awning, facade or entry treatment.
  • The requirement to activate the Macleay Street frontage. This is achieved through the inclusion of a ground floor retail space.
  • Urban ecology requirements to protect and retain the street trees adjacent to the site in Macleay and McDonald Street.
  • Stormwater quality controls.
  • Building setback and separation controls.
  • Residential amenity considerations concerning communal open space, solar access, cross ventilation, acoustic privacy for future residential apartments.
Protecting the greenery and activating the Macleay Street frontage are key provisions in the proposal

View Impact & Sharing With Neighbours

Minimising view loss for neighbouring properties to the east and south of the site has been a key design consideration. The proposed building envelope is considered to represent the most sensitive solution for a redevelopment proposal that complies with the City of Sydney floor space ratio and height controls for the site. However, Time & Place acknowledge there will be a view impact for some neighbours as the proposed building envelope has a greater building mass than the existing apartment building. In this regard, the proposed building envelope complies with City of Sydney planning controls for the site.

A detailed view sharing report has been prepared by Urbis and forms part of the Concept DA documentation. The report includes computer-generated images to indicate the extent of the impact on neighbours. The Report identifies that views from 4 apartment buildings to the east and south of the site would potentially have the views from some apartments affected. The report models the view impact for these properties. These properties are:

  • The 3 apartments at the southern end of each of the upper two floors in the Macleay Regis Apartments at 10-12 Macleay Street. Refer View 01, 02, 03 in the View Sharing Report by Urbis Report. The view impact as modelled for these apartments is rated by Urbis to have ‘minor to moderate impact’.
  • The 2 upper floor west facing apartments, secondary balconies at the Pomeroy at 14 Macleay Street. Refer View 04 in the View Sharing Report by Urbis Report. The view impact as modelled for these apartments is rated by Urbis to have a ‘moderate to severe impact’.
  • 1 top floor apartment at Selsdon at 16 Macleay Street. Refer View 05 in the View Sharing Report by Urbis Report. The view impact as modelled for this apartment is rated by Urbis to have a ‘minor impact’.
  • 1 top floor apartment at 57-59 Macleay Street in The Yellow House. Refer View 06 in the View Sharing Report by Urbis Report. The view impact as modelled for this apartment is rated by Urbis to have a ‘negligible impact.’

Download the view sharing report by Urbis:

Existing view from Macleay Regis and Pomeroy
Existing view from Yellow House and Challis Avenue

View Impact Assessment

The view loss was assessed by Urbis against the ‘Tenacity Planning Principle’, which is used by the NSW Land and Environment Court to evaluate view impact. The results of this assessment are reproduced below.

  • Based on a review of 6 potential views from 4 residential apartment buildings, only one unit was rated as having a greater than moderate (mid-level) view impact. In our opinion and taking a conservative approach, unit 801 (penthouse apartment) at 14 Macleay Street was rated as being exposed to a severe-moderate view impact. View impacts for unit 801 at 14 Macleay Street were ‘moderate -severe’ because the majority of views from the majority of living areas are to the east and north-east and are unaffected by the proposed development.
  • View impacts for 16 Macleay Street were considered to have a minor impact.
  • View impacts for 57-59 Macleay Street were rated as negligible.
  • The Concept DA is separated from its southern neighbour by a wide spatial setback of 6m which is occupied by a driveway with an awning and is accessed from the east. The open space above the 6m southern setback creates a wide separation between built forms, physical and visual permeability through part of the subject site and maintains part of the existing view corridor.
  • The wide spatial setback included in Concept DA allows for reasonable view sharing in relation to westerly and north-westerly views from elevated eastern neighbouring dwellings at 16, 14 and 10-12 and 57-59 Macleay Street.
  • Inclusion of the wide spatial setback reduces view impacts and significantly improves the overall view sharing view outcome for neighbouring dwellings and, as such provides a much more equitable view sharing outcome compared to a built form that would occupy the entire permissible envelope and form a nil setback to the southern boundary.
  • The extent of view loss that would be occasioned by the construction of a permissible envelope is contemplated by those controls.
  • The extent of potential view loss and view impacts in relation to the Concept DA is limited and significantly less than what is anticipated by those controls and, in our opinion, provides for a reasonable view sharing outcome.
  • The Concept DA form and scale as modelled is supported on view sharing grounds.
Consultation With Neighbours

Time & Place understands the sensitivity of view loss and plans to meet with the impacted properties to further explain the results of the View Sharing Report and offer further view modelling for affected property owners.

If you live in one of the buildings mentioned and would like further information or a view impact assessment to be conducted for your property, please complete the feedback form below and we will arrange for one to be conducted.

Overshadowing of Neighbouring Properties

Overshadowing analysis has been undertaken by SJB and is provided in the Architectural Drawings that form part of the Concept Plan DA documentation. Urbis considered the results against the planning controls of the City of Sydney, and their findings are set out below:

  • Four existing apartments in the vicinity of the site will have solar access reduced to below 2hrs between 9am and 3pm in midwinter (due to a modest reduction of between 5-15 minutes). This impact occurs at lower-level apartments (which are naturally harder to protect), where direct solar access is presently obscured by street tree plantings. These apartments would receive 2hrs+ of solar in midwinter should the window for measurement be extended by 1hr (to 4pm). These apartments also receive greater levels of solar (2hrs+) at other times of year, including on the equinox (23 September).
  • While four apartments have a slightly negative affectation, the proposal will result in two apartments gaining access to 2hrs of solar (vs. the existing non-compliant condition), providing a resultant benefit.
  • Notably, the above shadow impacts are the result of a scheme that complies with the maximum height and FSR controls. The proposed shadow impacts of the development are therefore considered appropriate for the subject site.

About the Developer

Time & Place is a next generation, design-focused Australian developer known for well-considered, contemporary projects, that respond to individual sites and contexts, celebrate use, transcend generations and support and enhance real lives. Established in Melbourne in early 2015, later that year the business expanded, opening their Sydney office.

Time & Place have a strong emphasis on in-house capabilities, allowing them to take on projects across sectors with experience and confidence. While their early projects were focused on the residential and mixed-use sector, they have expanded into the commercial, industrial, retail and hospitality sectors.

Design is core to who Time & Place are, steering clear of formulas in favour of creativity and pragmatism to make interesting projects. They believe that the contemporary home, workplace, or precinct is far more than a structure –  it’s a living, breathing system.

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