Mixed-Use — Residential / Hotel — Feasibility Study

803–813 George Street — Haymarket Feasibility

The Project

This feasibility study for Lendlease explored the redevelopment potential of a major site at the southern end of Sydney's CBD, 803–813 George Street, then occupied by the Rendezvous Hotel, a 116-room mid-rise hotel in the heart of Haymarket. The site sits at a pivotal location between Chinatown, the emerging Tech Central district, and the Central Station renewal corridor. The study investigated a mixed-use tower combining hotel on the lower levels with premium residential apartments above.

The Challenge

The central problem was extracting maximum development yield from a site beneath the Central Sydney Planning Strategy's sun access plane to Prince Alfred Park. These solar protection controls effectively sculpt the permissible building form before a single line of architecture is drawn, expressed as a three-dimensional height envelope that determines what can be built and where. On top of that, I needed to achieve compliance with the Apartment Design Guide, particularly direct solar access to a minimum percentage of apartments, within a tower form already constrained by the sun access plane above. The interplay between the external height envelope, internal solar requirements, core positioning, and BCA separation distances to neighbouring buildings created a tightly bounded design problem.

Central Sydney Planning Strategy, sun access plane analysis to Prince Alfred Park, showing height contours and the site location at RL 240m

The existing Rendezvous Hotel Sydney Central at 803–813 George Street, highlighted in the Haymarket streetscape

My Approach

I worked through the planning regulations in detail, systematically testing tower massing options to find how the building form could be shaped within the sun access plane to deliver the greatest number of compliant apartments. This involved 3D modelling within the precise sun access plane geometry, iterating between yield analysis and regulatory compliance to identify the optimum envelope. I examined a variety of splits between hotel rooms and residential apartments across the tower's height, testing how the transition between uses could be managed structurally and in terms of vertical circulation, while pushing the premium residential floors to the top where views and solar access are greatest.

Option A, tower orientation analysis showing the sun path arc and indicative dual-core positioning for ADG solar compliance

FJMT feasibility massing, street-level view looking south along George Street toward the proposed tower

FJMT feasibility massing, aerial view from the north showing the tower within the Haymarket CBD context

FJMT feasibility massing, aerial view from the south with Central Station rail yards in the foreground

The Outcome

The study gave Lendlease a rigorous assessment of the site's potential, quantifying achievable yield across a range of hotel and residential mix scenarios and mapping the constraints that would shape any future proposal. The project did not proceed to a DA. Since then, the precinct around Central Station has transformed dramatically with Tech Central and the Atlassian tower, which underscores the strategic value of the early investigation work we did. For me, this project deepened my ability to work analytically within complex planning envelopes, treating regulations not as obstacles but as the parameters that shape the design. That analytical rigour is something I bring to every feasibility study I run at Yaxley Studio today.