Plans have been submitted for the proposed 50-storey apartment and hotel tower to be built above Sydney’s City Tattersalls Club, the famous social club started by a group of disgruntled bookmakers in 1895.
The development at 194–204 Pitt Street, which will also see the existing building refurbished, is designed by BVN, which won a design competition for the project in 2020.
Once complete, the building will house a 101-room hotel and 241 “high-end” residential apartments. The redeveloped club will also include an upgraded lower bar and grill, new restaurants, a commercial fitness centre, and event spaces.
BVN’s design seeks to make clear the distinction between old and new, as well as indicating the different uses of the building.
“The three parts of the project – club, hotel and apartments – are purposefully articulated in the overall mass of the project, with fenestration informed by the existing exuberant heritage facades,” said BVN principal architect Matthew Blair. “They weave together a story of a rich history and an optimistic future for this significant place in the middle of the CBD.”
The development at City Tattersalls Club by BVN with FJMT.
BVN’s scheme was selected from a pool of six during the design competition, with the other designs prepared by Hassell, Bates Smart, SJB, Candalepas Associates, and DP Architects working in collaboration with Scott Carver Architects.
BVN has worked in collaboration with FJMT, the firm in charge of the heritage components and interiors.
“The home of the City Tattersalls Club will be transformed into a beautiful interconnection of exceptional heritage buildings and landmark heritage interiors with a new and exciting layer of contemporary design,” said FJMT design director Richard Francis-Jones.
“This new architectural layer will be like an organic ribbon of movement and light connecting all the great interior rooms of the club while also creating new modern spaces and facilities. The new architecture also makes an appearance on Pitt Street infilling between some of the finest heritage facades in our city. This seamless blend of new and heritage represents both the unmatched heritage of the club and its open, progressive, and innovative vision for the future.”
The development at City Tattersalls Club by BVN with FJMT.
The club itself is spread across two heritage-listed buildings, one at 202–204 Pitt Street designed by Sheerin and Hennessyand built in 1891 and the other at 198–200 Pitt Street, designed by Ernest Lindsey Thompson and built between 1932 and 1924.
The statement of sigifigance for the older building notes that The Tattersalls Club is one of the few surviving city clubs in its late 19th century premises. “The quality of the building reflects the importance of this type of social institution, and particularly the prestige of the racing industry in Sydney.” The Tattersalls Club was founded by 25 bookmakers who took issue with a judge’s decision to disqualify a horse at a race at Kensington and refused to pay out – hence losing their right to run books at that racecourse. It celebrates its 125th anniversary this year.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2022 with completion in 2026, pending approvals.
