Silvester Fuller wins Design Competition for 600-660 Elizabeth Street Redfern (now known as Redfern Place) market housing building

Design Legacy for Redfern: Silvester Fuller wins Design Competition for Redfern Place market housing building

Silvester Fuller will help shape the streetscape of inner-city Redfern as the winner of the Design Competition for the key worker and market housing building within Redfern Place.

Situated in Redfern, the historic hub of the Aboriginal Rights Movement and a central meeting point on Gadigal land, the long-dormant 600-660 Elizabeth Street site is set for revitalisation. Community Housing Provider Bridge Housing aims to breathe life into the property on behalf of the Land and Housing Corporation, creating much-needed housing for 300+ families.

Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson welcomed the appointment of Silvester Fuller to lead the design for the redevelopment.

“More social housing in inner city Sydney is crucial, and this project will bring together a diverse housing mix along with a community facility that will greatly benefit the Redfern community,” Ms Jackson said.

“I look forward to seeing Silvester Fuller’s vision for Redfern Place, and for this project moving another step towards providing more housing for people in need.”

Executive Chair of Bridge Housing Stephen Bull noted, 'Redfern Place marks a turning point in property development history at a time when housing affordability has never been more important. Typically, inner-city prices exclude people on lower incomes. Redfern Place will comprise 70% of social and affordable homes. Giving people a home where they want to live, close to family networks and their jobs. The design will also be audacious, genuinely striving to design for community and country, celebrating Redfern's history, vibrance and resilience.'

Bridge Housing and infrastructure partner Capella Capital have gathered Australia's design innovators, including Hayball as overall design team lead and executive architect, Aspect Studios landscape architects, cultural advisers, and Yerrabingin, and now we are excited to announce the latest additions to complete the team in Silvester Fuller and Architecture AND.

Artist Impression

Silvester Fuller won the design competition for the market housing building with an innovative design that met the brief for the community and country with their organic U-shaped footprint. Their stepped fourteen- and ten-storey building will create 180 market and key worker homes on the site's northeast.

A standout feature will be the 'Family Floor' rooftop garden on level 10, giving residents outdoor and indoor communal spaces. An internal street or breezeway will interlink homes within the building and provide a connection with Kettle Street, while the rooftop will be immediately recognisable on the skyline.

Partner of Silvester Fuller Penny Fuller said, 'We are delighted to have been selected to work with Bridge Housing and the rest of the design team on a new housing precinct for this important site in the heart of Redfern. Our vision strives to rebalance amenity and cost with a more meaningful Connection to Country. The ambition of the project is a community-focused collection of homes proposing an evolution in the allocation of private and shared space, announcing a small incremental shift serving as a catalyst for the evolution of how we might live together and share this land we are so fortunate to call home.'

Architecture AND was selected as designers of the 3,500 sqm community facility through a competitive expression of interest process. Principal of the firm, Dr

Andrew Burns said: 'We are excited to have been selected to work with Bridge Housing, Capella Capital and the design team to deliver an exceptional, integrated development at Redfern Place on Gadigal land. The project is a rare opportunity for us to design a major facility with and for the community of Redfern, the place where we work.'

Redfern Place will comprise four buildings, including a community space, market and key worker housing, affordable housing, NDIS and social housing, and the new home for Bridge Housing's head office as it returns to its roots in Redfern.

'Redfern Place, like Redfern itself, will be a place for community; it will be contemporary, eclectic, connected and have deep roots to country. We are excited to collaborate with Bridge Housing and the new additions to the design team to create homes and community facilities that will be interwoven into this incredible context, creating much-needed social value for residents for generations to come,' said Hayball Principal and NSW Studio lead, Dave Tordoff.

Redfern Place is currently undergoing a community engagement process to help shape the precinct to meet the community's needs.

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About Bridge Housing

Bridge Housing is a Tier One community housing provider with over thirty years of experience delivering social and affordable housing. A sector leader, Bridge Housing is recognised for driving innovation in affordable housing delivery. With a property portfolio of $1.5B and 3,600 properties under management, Bridge Housing provides a safe, secure and affordable home for 5,500 residents across metropolitan Sydney. For more information: www.bridgehousing.org.au 

Source: Bridge Housing Media Release 28 February 2024