Sydney Open Day 2019: Grosvenor Place

One of the most complex and celebrated works by architect Harry Seidler, Grosvenor Place was conceived as a civic sculpture, and a ‘camera to the view’. Its two crescent towers, split by an elliptical core, function as ‘convex lenses’, trained towards the Sydney Opera House on one side, and Darling Harbour on the other.

Heralded on completion for its column-free floor plates and innovative environmental design, including external sun-louvres to maximise daylight and minimise air-conditioning, Grosvenor Place won Seidler (in 1991) his fifth Sulman Award from the Australian Institute of Architects.

As with every Seidler building, art is integral to the fabric and culture of Grosvenor Place. Seidler commissioned pre-eminent New York artist Frank Stella to paint the monumental reliefs that animate the lobby’s granite walls.

Today, Grosvenor Place is the workplace for more than 5000 Sydneysiders, and demonstrates resilience through ongoing adaptation by Harry Seidler & Associates – custodians of the Seidler design principles and the tower’s environmental DNA. The redesigned ground-floor lobby is now the main processional entry from George Street.