Surry Hills Village
Surry Hills Village is an urban regeneration project that transforms a formerly unactivated, inward-facing warehouse and supermarket box into a connected, fine-grain assembly of buildings that re-engage with its surrounding community. As part of a competition-winning team, ASPECT Studios has shaped the public domain to prioritise connectivity, permeability and a rich landscape design which uplifts the urban experience.
- TRADITIONAL OWNERS & ONGOING CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND Gadigal of the Eora Nation
- CLIENT TOGA
- LOCATION Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia
- YEAR 2018 - 2025
At the urban scale, the design reinstates the historic east–west street grain through a network of new laneways and shared spaces, restoring connections across the site and creating active frontages. Central to this is Wunderlich Lane, a new east–west spine linking Baptist, Marriott and Cleveland Streets. Lined with retail and hospitality, it supports a vibrant, walkable environment and anchors a network of public spaces designed for movement, gathering and social exchange.
The landscape draws on the eclectic, garden character of the surrounding neighbourhoods, establishing a lush, planted identity throughout. A sequence of diverse spaces including laneways, streetscapes, a public park, residential courtyards and communal terraces, offer opportunities for both activity and retreat. Generous planting, warm-toned materials and integrated seating create a generous human-scaled experience, while retail spill-out enhances street life and activation.
Streetscape upgrades, developed for the City of Sydney, introduce durable materials and layered planting to soften the urban edge and improve amenity. A new public park transformed a sprawling carpark into valuable open space for the community, with a shareway and a green pedestrian and cycle corridor which strengthens connections and supports biodiversity. Upper-level retail laneways extend the public domain - creating inviting paths of travel between buildings that connect to the wider community, combining stone paving, planting and integrated artwork by First Nations artist Jake Nash.
Residential landscapes provide a quieter counterpoint, with a central courtyard offering a communal green retreat. Private terraces and rooftop gardens feature predominantly native planting that cascades over built edges, extending greenery throughout the precinct.
The architecture, led by SJB with Studio Prineas, brings together a mix of housing, commercial, retail, hotel, hospitality and heritage elements within a cohesive urban framework. Through close collaboration, Surry Hills Village delivers a layered, connected and enduring precinct grounded in landscape, community and place.
- TEAM ASPECT Studios, SJB Architects, Studio Prineas, Jake Nash, Solutions+, Robert Bird Group
- PHOTOGRAPHY Tom Roe
