9-13 Blaxland Road, Rhodes

An award winning residential design with strong biophilic references that ‘rewilds the sky’

GroupGSA won a design competition for a 37-storey residential tower with mixed-use podium in the Inner West suburb of Rhodes. The design takes inspiration from the ridges, valleys, bays and peninsulas that define Sydney’s geography. Designed collaboratively with Singapore-based landscape architecture practice Salad Dressing, 9-13 Blaxland Road was conceived as a biodiversity connector that ‘rewilds the sky’ with generous vertical greening and sky gardens.

Situated within the Station Gateway East precinct, a primarily high-rise residential area with a high level of amenity, the tower features an activated ground plane that provides a new green connection between Blaxland Road, Rhodes Station, Churchill Tucker Reserve, McIlwaine Park and Brays Bay.

Following a successful SSDA process, the building will now reach 50 storeys in height, with roof plant & pool areas extending above.

Vertical wintergardens are a key focal point to the building, which appear to creep up from the surrounding parkland to envelope the tower and culminate in an intimate rooftop garden. The gardens are more than just an aesthetic feature, providing both acoustic and urban heat mitigation, as well as buffering high winds.

The proposal provides a diverse mix of apartment typologies with 20% 1-bed, 40% 2-bed, 35% 3-bed and 5% 4-bed. The scheme also proposes additional configurations to satisfy a wider and more diverse audience.

Thanks to its relatively unencumbered site, most apartments offer unobstructed panoramic views to the south and north-east, looking over parklands and the Parramatta River.

The building boasts premium communal spaces, including a fantastical mirrored dining / alfresco space on Level 20 and a rooftop forest with infinity pool.