Archaeology at Central Park

Central Park, Sydney

Archaeological Excavation
Heritage Impact Statement
Peer Review
Heritage Advice
Adaptive Re-use
Heritage Assessment

City of Sydney

With its striking design and sustainability credentials, the award-winning Central Park development in Chippendale is a landmark residential, retail, dining and arts/cultural destination.

Central Park has a rich past as the site of a former 1830s brewery. GML unearthed its subterranean secrets. Our archaeologists uncovered a large former stable—once home to the brewery’s working horses which delivered beer to thirsty Sydneysiders—along with cesspits, wells, drains and former streets.

GML’s strategic advice informed the concept design, retaining significant heritage values while enabling urban renewal. Remnants of the brewery’s 170-year history—from beer vats and malting tanks to machinery—were salvaged and re-used as interpretive features in the new development. Others have been repurposed. The old brewery stack forms part of a sustainable energy-emitting power plant for Central Park’s residents.

Our work helped ensure that the site’s urban industrial heritage endures alongside sustainable contemporary design and architecture.

Awards

Winner, New Design in Heritage Contexts for The Brewery Yard by Tzannes Associates, 2016 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation [for project team]

Central Park has won a suite of planning, design and architectural awards.

Partners

Cox Richardson
Tzannes Associates
Foster + Partners