158 Botany is conceived as an architecture of layers — rooted in Country, inspired by park, shaped by heritage, and open to the future.
At its base, it recalls the old creeks and wetlands that once flowed across Gadigal land, reinterpreted as civic entries and planted connections.
Its language draws on Alexandria Park’s figs — trunks translated into columns, canopies into wintergardens, and facades dappled with shifting patterns of light.
Along Botany Road, sawtooth and brick echoes of Alexandria’s industry are threaded together with the urban grain of Waterloo.
Rising from this ground, the building becomes a flexible, biophilic workplace of brick, glass and green belts, resilient and sustainable. It is both landmark and landscape — belonging deeply to place and community.
Pre 1788
The Botany Road Corridor and Alexandria
Park sit on Gadigal Country, once a living
mosaic of wetlands, creeks, heathlands
and tall turpentine–ironbark forests.
Botany Road itself follows the line of an
ancient Aboriginal pathway, connecting
inland and coastal clans.
This was a place of hunting, fishing,
ceremony and gathering, where plants
like banksia and casuarina were
harvested for food, medicine and tools,
and burning practices shaped the
“Kangaroo Grounds” grasslands.
There are opportunities to restore
connections to Gadigal Country by
integrating native ecologies, water
systems and natural textures into the
building and landscape.
Early Conflict
With the British invasion in 1788, Gadigal
and neighbouring clans were forced
inland, seeking refuge in the wetlands
and heathlands of Redfern, Waterloo and
Alexandria.
Ceremonies and corroborees continued
near Redfern Park and Alexandria Park,
while Botany Road became a colonial
road laid over ancient tracks.
The land itself carried both cultural
continuity and the scars of frontier
violence and displacement.
There are opportunities to align
circulation and entries with ancient
pathways, making the site a place of
movement, gathering and continuity
along Botany Road.
– The 1800s
By the mid-19th century, Alexandria’s
wetlands were drained for factories,
housing and market gardens, degrading
the ecology of Alexandria Park. Botany
Road included bridges over creeks which
feed into the swamps and waterways.
Yet Aboriginal camps persisted nearby,
and Aboriginal men and women became
part of Sydney’s working life — employed
at Eveleigh Railway Workshops, local
glassworks, and match factories in
Alexandria.
Despite dispossession, people adapted
and maintained connection through work
and community.
There are opportunities to celebrate the
original creek lines and industrial era
resilience, through site connection and
robust materiality and flexible structures
that reflect resilience and adaptability.
Migration – Early 1900s
As Redfern, Waterloo and Alexandria
grew into Sydney’s busiest industrial
precincts, Aboriginal families migrated
from missions and country towns to seek
jobs and housing.
Boarding houses, terraces and workers’
cottages became hubs of Aboriginal
community life.
Alexandria Park and its surrounds
were part of this urban fabric, a place
of recreation and connection within
an increasingly diverse working-class
neighbourhood.
There are opportunities to create
inclusive spaces for gathering, working
and socialising that reflect the communal
spirit and street life of Aboriginal Redfern.
1920s to 1980s
By the mid-20th century, the area was
recognised as “Aboriginal Redfern,” the
heart of Aboriginal urban identity in
Australia.
Alexandria Park was woven into this
cultural life — a meeting place, sports
ground and backdrop to everyday
community strength.
The area became a national centre of
activism, with the establishment of the
Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal
Medical Service, and Black Theatre,
alongside sporting and cultural
institutions like the Redfern All Blacks.
There are opportunities to embed
Aboriginal voices and stories through art,
public domain gestures and architectural
expression that make culture visible.
1990s to now
Redevelopment and gentrification have
reshaped the corridor, displacing many
Aboriginal families, yet the cultural
significance of Botany Road and
Alexandria Park endures.
These places remain markers of
memory, struggle and resilience — a
living heritage where Aboriginal people
continue to assert connection to Country
and identity.
The story of place, both ancient and
modern, demands visibility in the city’s
future fabric.
There are opportunities to ensure
Aboriginal memory and connection
remain visible by designing an open,
generous ground plane and integrating
cultural markers that speak
Establish site constraints, envelope and setbacks.
Basement access and flood-level response — resilient below-ground design adaptable for future laneway conversion.
Arrival strategies: Clear Botany Rd entry, mid-block site link, green laneway spill — a layered and inclusive arrival sequence.
Efficient core postioning and structural facade grid minimses columns, maximising flexibility, daylight and efficiency.
North Facade
East Facade
West Facade
South Facade