Sirius is a public housing development in The Rocks. It was built in 1979, after the decade long Green Ban protection of The Rocks. It was symbolic of the fact that public housing was there to stay, right in the centre of an area potentially ripe for development for the very rich. Although concrete, and an example of 'brutalism', the rooftops all have private or community terraces. The wanted to use architect, Tao Gofers, from the government architect's office wanted to use white cement, to echo the Opera House across the water, but there was no budget for it. It is designed to allow plants to grow over it. Fifteen metres on the other side is the approach to the Harbour Bridge, so the vegetation helps baffle noise. This is an extremely popular place to live.
The 'Green Bans' were a coalition of the Rocks Residents' Action Group, and the union called the Builders Labourers' Federation who combined to prevent demolition of the historic Rocks precinct with its low-income housing. I have blogged about Green Bans before: see here. More about Green Bans here.
More here about Sirius here.
This should be in the top 5 of ugliest buildings in the world. What a shame it is in the Rocks.
ReplyDeleteagree & a very nice harbour side location to live in as a reward for ( non ) effort !
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