Effective Collaboration – Quay Quarter Lanes by SJB, Silvester Fuller and Studio Bright

Encapsulating the architectural work of SJB, Silvester Fuller and Studio Bright, Quay Quarter Lanes is part of a $2.7 billion redevelopment by AMP Capital. Tied together by the consistent and confident use of brickwork, the project speaks to the effective collaboration of the contributing parties.

Quay Quarter Lanes is a rejuvenated Sydney precinct comprised of Phillip, Young and Loftus Streets. While embodying a diverse built context, the city block captures part of Sydney’s heritage, despite standing as a younger entity. The buildings of the precinct – designed by architecture firms SJB, Silvester Fuller and Studio Bright – utilise Brickworks bricks to pay homage to the construction of the original urban landscape. In 9-15 Young Street, 18, 8 Loftus Street, bricks refer back to 1782 when The Scarborough sailed into Sydney Cove carrying 5,000 clay bricks.

While embodying a diverse built context, the city block captures part of Sydney’s heritage, despite standing as a younger entity.

Featuring 35 luxury apartments above three levels of commercial space, 9-15 Young Street is a contemporary mixed-use building designed by SJB. Externally, brickwork is employed in a narrow Roman profile to create a dynamic, textural façade that represents the balance between a quiet residential aspect and a thriving commercial scene. The rich ochre colour of the brick combines with its elegant contours to propose a civic character. Placed into a Corso brick format, the layered presentation evokes an idea of sedimentary rock that, like the city, is imbued with a sense of historic relevance. Internally, Brickworks’ San Selmo Corso bricks entice visitors into the lobby space.

The design of 18 Loftus Street embraces Brickworks’ Bowral Chillingham White bricks. Silvester Fuller uses the distinctive sandy colour to mirror the colour profile of the adjacent heritage building, provide a modest canvas for interplays of sunlight and shadow and to contrast dark glass openings, emphasising a geometric concept. To the southern orientation, the brickwork is arranged in a pixelated pattern to create a striking aesthetic feature, nodding towards the freedom of the abstract. As a practical element, the robust material entails low maintenance costs and a graceful expression of time.

The design of 18 Loftus Street embraces Brickworks’ Bowral Chillingham White bricks.

Studio Bright created 8 Loftus Street using Brickworks’ Nubrik and Austral Bricks. With two levels of retail space and 31 elevated apartments, 8 Loftus Street is a mixed-use building designed to sit comfortably in the urban environment. At ground level, La Paloma bricks in the Romero hue are used. Silvery grey in colour, these bricks grant the building a softer presence within the local milieu. Studio Bright also employs Nubrik The Dane custom colour and format. Applied in two types of radial shape and one type of transitional shape, the bricks contribute to the lightweight architectural impression of the building.

Exerting a powerful influence upon Quay Quarter Lanes, Brickworks bricks unite three distinguished projects. SJB, Silvester Fuller and Studio Bright apply the durable material with purpose, creating a contemporary, accomplished and visually generous reinterpretation of a historic built landscape.