The Sydney Morning Herald – The champion of Barangaroo’s southern cove, Paul Keating, says its function as a landmark can be ”swapped” with the proposed site for James Packer’s $1.5 billion hotel casino.
The cove is to shrink by about 2000 square metres under the latest design changes, endorsed by the Barangaroo Delivery Authority this week. These would also shift parkland inland from the harbour – a consequence of Lend Lease agreeing to relocate its hotel from a site approved over the water to Mr Packer’s preferred location.
Mr Keating, a strong advocate for the two harbour coves and naturalistic headland when chairman of the Barangaroo Design Excellence Review Panel, said a significant building could serve as the new delineating line between Barangaroo South and the parkland areas to its north. ”In other words … the delineating point has been swapped,” Mr Keating said.
”Earlier, when the hotel was to be in the water, Barangaroo Central was all grass. But now, with a tall hotel building to sit onshore at the corner, you’ve swapped devices – swapped the optics of a larger section of water for an imposing, sculptural building.”
Mr Keating, who has previously praised Crown’s designs for Barangaroo as ”heading towards being a significant building for Sydney”, said he had always preferred a hotel located over the water.
”But after the city council’s vile campaign and the Barangaroo Action Group, the new government made a different decision,” the former prime minister said.
”I think that [a hotel] is OK as a delineation device, provided that no buildings are allowed to be built north of the Alfred Street line.”
