Mixed-Use — Residential / Commercial / Hotel — Feasibility Study

2–28 Chalmers Street & 7–15 Randle Street — Surry Hills Feasibility

The Project

This feasibility study for Lendlease explored the development potential of a collection of sites on the eastern edge of Central Station, the threshold between the CBD rail corridor and the fine-grained urban fabric of Surry Hills. The study investigated a mixed-use tower combining residential, commercial, and hotel uses, with a transformative piece of urban infrastructure: a through-site pedestrian link connecting Central Station directly into the Surry Hills neighbourhood beyond.

Site analysis diagram showing the land parcels, ownership, zoning, and heritage status of each property within the study area

Aerial photograph showing the site outlined in orange adjacent to the Central Station rail corridor

The Challenge

The site comprised several parcels with different ownership, zoning, and heritage conditions, including the former Dental Hospital, the Bounce Hotel, and the R.C. Henderson Hat Factory on Randle Street. The building massing was driven primarily by solar access controls from the Central Sydney Planning Strategy, requiring careful three-dimensional modelling of the maximum permissible envelope. On top of that, the study needed to resolve how new development would integrate with the heritage buildings, particularly the hat factory which already had its own hotel DA. The through-site link concept meant the ground plane had to facilitate genuine pedestrian connectivity, not just serve as a base for yield above.

The heritage building at 7–15 Randle Street, the former R.C. Henderson Hat Factory, highlighted in the Surry Hills streetscape

My Approach

I worked through the planning regulations in detail and collaborated with the consultant team to develop the feasibility proposition. This meant systematically testing massing options within the solar envelope, resolving the programme stacking, residential at the top, commercial in the mid-levels, hotel below, and exploring how the through-site link and a future Metro connection could be delivered within the development. The tower's podium was designed to align with existing heritage parapets, mediating between new development scale and the surrounding streetscape character. I also explored a raised bridge connection through the emerging Metro portal and over Chalmers Street.

Colour-coded block and stack diagram showing the programme distribution, residential (yellow), commercial (blue), hotel (light blue), Metro station entry (pink), and hospital loading dock (orange), with the raised bridge connection and portal access annotated

Street-level perspective showing the colour-coded massing with the heritage parapet setback alignment, portal access from Chalmers Street, and raised bridge connection

White massing model, aerial view from the south showing the tower form with Central Station in the foreground

The Outcome

The study did not proceed to a DA, but it gave Lendlease a thorough understanding of the site's potential and the urban planning opportunities around Central Station connectivity. The broader precinct has since evolved dramatically with Tech Central and the construction of the Sydney Metro station on Chalmers Street, precisely the kind of transport infrastructure the study anticipated. This project taught me how to think about development as more than just yield, how through-site links and connectivity strategies can be woven into private development to deliver genuine public benefit. That way of thinking about projects as urban contributions, not just buildings, is central to how I approach work at Yaxley Studio.