Once dubbed “murder mall,” Surry Hills Village’s $500m four-year rejuvenation is nearing full competition – with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting that the TOGA development, designed by Sydney-based architect Adam Haddow, is “more Rome than Redfern”—the kind of development every local area needs if the Minns government is going to increase density across Sydney.
“It’s got a good mix – it’s got local amenities in terms of supermarkets [and] destination things in terms of restaurants and hotels. It’s got office space,” said Mr Haddow, a director at SJB and a resident of the area. “[But] it’s not only [for a] nine to five. It’s got a hotel, it’s got residences.”
According to TOGA Group managing director Allan Vidor, one of the most important decisions was to ditch the original plan for the renovation, comprising 90% residential use and retaining the old shopping centre’s Coles supermarket – and instead develop a new mixed-use precinct honouring (rather than gentrifying) the Redfern community.
“We looked at the site and said, ‘This is a chance to create a vibrant mixed development,'” Mr Vidor said, who bought the site in 2015. That resulted in adding offices, restaurants, and a hotel, The Eve, with a rooftop pool. Set to open in the coming months, a range of restaurants and cafes will open across the new village, including a new Greek restaurant, Olympus.
This includes a new six-storey commercial tower with salt and pepper-coloured bricks wrapped around a mass timber core connecting to the retail space, restaurants, cafes, and bars. Wood Central understands that shipments of structural timber—manufactured in Sweden—began arriving at the site in July 2022 – with timber then installed over the concrete core and wrapped in the brickwork.
“Sustainability is a key focus for [TOGA in the Surry Hills Village] project,” according to the Surry Hill Village developers: “The development will incorporate environmentally friendly practices and materials to minimise its ecological footprint – energy-efficient buildings, water-saving technologies, and green rooftops are just a few of the sustainable features integrated into the design.”
The new development comes as the NSW government has vowed to build upward rather than outward to tackle population density. In June, Daniel Mookhey, NSW’s Treasurer, vowed to better utilise the inner city—including infill sites—to address Sydney’s growing inequality.
Inequality is most pronounced in areas like Redfern—home to Surry Hills Village—which has twice as many rich and poor people and a major public housing project in the south.
“When there is attention to sustainability and design, as well as landscaping and tree canopy, everyone in the community benefits,” said Leslie Holdern, a local Redfern resident who spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald. “After nearly four years of construction, the area buzzes on a Saturday morning.”
- For more information about current timber projects under construction in inner-city Sydney, including The Prince’s Quarter, a partnership between the Princes Trust Australia and the NSW Government’s Land and Housing (LAHC) in Glebe, click here for more information.
