An emerging Sydney architect is set to design a stunning new pavilion on Sydney’s foreshore as part of Australia’s biggest urban renewal development.

NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes has announced that the Spresser architecture studio led by Jessica Spresser has won the design competition to build the Pier Pavilion at Watermans Cove on the foreshore at the Barangaroo precinct in conjunction with architect Peter Belsey and design consultants Arup.

Set to be constructed on the southern point of the newly constructed Waterman’s Cove, the pavilion will form a year-round space which will be used for programmed events.

Features will include a green rooftop garden and 123 columns which will be built using white ‘oyster concrete’ from local oyster shells.

The design was selected after a national competition was opened in June and attracted 170 entrants.

image: Jessica Spresser

In a statement, Stokes congratulated Spresser on her design, which he says has timeless appeal and a symbiotic relationship to its surroundings.

“We opened the national design competition in June to test the vision and innovation of some of the country’s best architects – and we weren’t disappointed with what was submitted,” Stokes said.

“As a young, emerging architect, Jessica’s design is sophisticated and iconic, celebrating the natural elements of land, sea and sky that compose the site.

“Our vision for Barangaroo has been to ensure that more than half of the area was dedicated public space. Seeing the potential of how the area will look, through the eyes of talented architects, is a thrill for me as Minister for Public Spaces.”

In the Colonnades image: Jessica Spresser

Spresser said she was honoured to have been selected.

She said the pavilion has been designed as a ‘democratic gathering space under a landscape canopy and will act as a meeting place, a site for events, a memorable part of the city and an oasis of tranquillity’.

“Personally, this means a great deal as a young Australian architect and I thank Infrastructure NSW for putting together this competition,” she said.

Evening view from ferry image Jessica Spresser

The new pavilion is part of the Barangaroo development, which is transforming an area on the north-western edge of the Sydney CBD which was previously used for fishing and hunting by indigenous Australian and subsequently for shipping and stevedoring after colonisation into a landmark waterfront designation involving commercial, residential and public spaces.

The pavilion will be constructed on the southern part of the newly opened Watermans Cove, which transformed a previously inaccessible area into a world-class waterfront precinct with commercial, residential and recreational space which features a new pier, cove and foreshore boardwalk.

The cove is part of a vision to link the harbour along eight kilometres of foreshore from Rozelle Bay to Woolloomooloo Bay.