Opal Tower, Sydney Olympic Park
The design creates a powerful visual identity for the site and anchors the corner of Australia Avenue and Bennelong Parkway
As you drive north along Bennelong Parkway, Opal Tower stands proud and striking in the distance. The landscape is well-integrated and complementary to the tower architecture and its surrounds. A forest of Eucalypts, Melaleucas and Casuarinas frame the periphery of Opal Tower and marry into the native landscape of Bicentennial Park. Pops of purple from the Jacarandas at podium level provide a pleasant contrast against the green and yellow landscape.
Patrons travel to and from a shared pedestrian and cycle underpass from Sydney Olympic Park railway station and Opal Tower. A wider pedestrian land bridge, heavily landscaped over Bennelong Parkway strengthens the landscape connection to Bicentennial Park and provides a safe transition for pedestrians across the main street.
The landscape looks appropriate to place, but is actually providing more than just pure aesthetics. The design cleverly celebrates water treatment and stormwater runoff through water sensitive urban design. The urban landscape is explorative and interactive; patrons walk through integrated urban wetlands, walkways over bio-retention ponds and cascading terraces of water. The design creates a powerful visual identity for the site and anchors the corner of Australia Avenue and Bennelong Parkway, as well as showcasing ecological processes through landscape design.
