CHROFI embarked on the re-development of the storied Channel Nine television studios in the Northern Sydney suburb of Willoughby, unlocking a prized hilltop site that has been closed to the public for more than 60 years, connecting new residents and the community though an outstanding new public domain and high-quality architecture.

The project after CHROFI won a Design Excellence Competition for the masterplan of the site with the proposal taking advantage of the site’s unique hilltop topography, natural environment and views, whilst retaining a respectful relationship to the existing low-scale suburban streetscape. Collaboratively documented by Mirvac Design, the precinct will deliver 445 apartments across 10 residential buildings, 6,385 square metres of open green space (20% of site area) including a playground, picnic area, landscaped boulevard and parks, a north-facing plaza with cafés, and adaptive reuse of ‘The Loft’ building as 1050 square metres of retail/commercial space.

Construction began in November 2020 and was completed in early 2024 with the Grand Opening in October of the same year. A deeply coordinated approach between the architectural and landscape design teams has paid off through the delivery of a highly legible, permeable urban condition that honours the rich history of the site, as a pioneer and the spiritual birthplace of Australian television. The generosity of the urban design is not just saved for the residents of the development but shared with public and surrounding community. A large network of parks, garden courtyards and playgrounds are designed and woven into the urban fabric of the suburb, by landscape architects McGregor Coxall, creating new connections, active uses, and sharing panoramic views unique to the site.

Within the site there is a layering of three distinct building typologies that adds to the rich architectural diversity and character of the suburb, as well as introducing a sensitively placed pocket of higher density living in the area. Low-scale series of street interfacing buildings take use of a strong robust materiality, but formed in a delicate rhythmic manner to blend with the fine grain character of the street. Street facing buildings are feathered between two and five storeys, which use a variety of materiality, form, articulation to minimise the percieved mass of the buildings and retain the rhythm of the street.

Moving inwards, the street pattern transitions to a more urban experience, into a network of public parks with city-skyline view corridors which surround three mid-rise towers at the centre. These 10-storey buildings are deep into the centre of the masterplan to minimise impact on the neighbourhood by allowing a gradual step down in scale out to the perimeter. The architecture of these larger buildings in the centre do not shy away from their scale, retaining the clarity of their mass by avoiding overly articulated forms.

Finally, a set of organic-formed ‘bush buildings’ nestled in between the park spaces sit distinct from the more formalist aesthetics of the other two typologies, with planter boxes that soften the buildings geometries. Materiality and planting are designed to harmonise with the sites natural flora and incorporate parts of the local geology and native plant species to create a more settled, and sustainable landscape environment.

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