Star Entertainment Group has revealed the three architecture firms shortlisted for its 200-metre-high hotel tower at the Star Casino site in Pyrmont, Sydney.
The shortlisted firms are BVN, Grimshaw and Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT).
The tower will include a hotel component operated by the Ritz-Carlton and is expected to feature more than 220 hotel rooms and about 150 residences.
The Star Entertainment Group (formerly the Echo Entertainment Group) has engaged its partners in the $2-billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development – Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium – to joint venture on the Sydney plans.
The hotel project will also include works to connect the tower to the existing property, which will feature food and beverage offerings.
The project is seen as Star Entertainment Group’s answer to the James Packer-backed Crown Resorts tower planned for Barangaroo South, which will be located on the other side of Darling Harbour.
The Star tower will undergo a community engagement program seeking suggestions and feedback from various stakeholders and the local community. An open house public viewing of the three shorltisted designs is expected to be on display in October.
The winning architect will be asked to take community views into consideration before the final design is submitted as part of the project’s planning approvals process during the 2017 financial year.
The winning design will be selected by a five-person design panel including Peter Poulet (NSW Government Architect and executive director of the Government Architect’s Office), Lisa-Maree Carrigan (director of Group GSA), Craig Allchin (adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Technology Sydney and director of Six Degrees Urban), James Doolan (regional vice-president of hotel development, Asia Pacific for Marriott International), and Greg Hawkins (managing director of The Star Sydney).
