Sirius building in The Rocks is still under threat despite calls for it to be heritage listed

SARAH KEOGHAN and ELIZABETH FORTESCUE, The Daily Telegraph July 9, 2016

 

DRIVING towards Sydney’s CBD on the Cahill Expressway, the Sirius apartment building on your left is so close it feels like you could reach out and touch it.

 

Stepped, squat, concrete and modular, the Sirius was built in 1978 and 1979 for public housing following the wholesale redevelopment of parts of The Rocks and Millers Point.

 

Heritage experts say the Sirius is a “cultural artefact”, and in October 2014 the NSW National Trust called for it to be heritage listed.



Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants

 



Generic interior shot taken inside the Phillip Room on the ground floor of the Sirius Building at The Rocks which is an apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.

 

 



Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants

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But the Sirius is dangerously close to the wrecking ball, with NSW Environment Minister Mark Speakman yet to make a final decision on whether it will stay or go.

“The minister is still considering whether or not to list the Sirius apartment building in The Rocks on the State Heritage register,” a spokesman for Speakman told Saturday Extra.

“A decision will be made in due course.”

 

The Sirius at 36-50 Cumberland St, The Rocks, was designed by architect Tao Gofers, who consulted with prospective tenants on what their housing needs would be.

 

 

 



Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.

 

 



Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants

 

It was a product of its times, when building unions slapped Green Bans on heritage sites that were earmarked for demolition and redevelopment.

 

The Sirius was built to provide housing for displaced residents who had lost their homes in the 1960s and 1970s redevelopment wave that went through The Rocks and Millers Point.

 

In 1975 the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority “agreed to suspend most of its development plans and rehouse displaced public housing tenants in new public housing”, according to Powerhouse Museum curator Charles Pickett.

 

“Most of Sirius’ original tenants had lived in terraces on George, Playfair and Atherden streets,” Pickett wrote on the Powerhouse website.

 

 

Sirius Building resident Myra Demetriou aged 89 years old inside her tenth floor apartment, she has lived in the building since 2008. Sirius Building at The Rocks is an apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.


 

Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.
 

The building was originally meant to be painted white, echoing the colour of the Opera House across the bay. This was abandoned due to budgetary constraints, and Sirius remained grey.

 

The building was designed with a view to providing affordable public housing. It has 70 apartments designed to house about 200 people.

 

But today the building is home to just seven residents. The rest have been forced to move on by the state government in what City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has described as an effort to “socially cleanse” Millers Point.

 

Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants
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Myra Demetriou, 89, is one of the last residents of the Sirius. Myra is legally blind, and occupies a two-bedroom apartment on the top floor. She has been offered other accommodation by the government, but has declined due to her reliance and attachment to Sirius.

“The Sirius is not just a building, it’s a community that they want to demolish,” Demetriou says.

“Everyone who lived in the Sirius used to help each other; people would come and read me my mail. It’s not the same anymore.”

 

 

Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.

 

The Sirius building is not only an example of social and historical significance, but is also highly valued for its architectural imprint on Sydney’s skyline.

Architect Clive Lucas, president of the NSW National Trust, is a great advocate for the building, and believes it is a success of its time.

 

“The Sirius building is like a chapter in Sydney’s architectural story,” Lucas says.

 

“It’s hard to think of a better building of that period. The building is of the brutalist era, and that puts people off, but what they don’t know is that brutalism just means raw concrete building.”

 

 

Generic inside the lift of the Sirius Building at The Rocks which is an apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.

Generic interior shot taken inside the Phillip Room on the ground floor of the Sirius Building at The Rocks which is an apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.

Sirius’s unusual stepped outline was designed for the sole purpose of fitting the irregular zoning, without blocking the views of the Opera House from behind. Lucas believes that if Sirius was demolished and a taller building constructed, it would ruin the beauty of The Rocks.

“It’s a useful, practical building, which still has a lot of life. It ticks all the boxes for being preserved,” Jones says.

Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.

Sirius was the reason Shaun Carter became an architect and, eventually, CEO of the advocacy group SOS Sirius. He was inspired by the building years ago, and still loves it.

“If the future of Sirius is decided upon through financial gain, it tells me that we as a society have become the sum total of our bank account, and I think it is incredibly shallow to think of life in that shadow,” he says.

 

“Sirius proved that everyone in Sydney deserves a place to live, no matter what culture you are from, or what school you went to.

 

“These are our people and it is translated into this building.”

 

 

 

Sirius Building at The Rocks is apartment building built in 1979 to accommodate social housing tenants.

Graham Quint, director of advocacy at The National Trust, says there is no need to demolish the Sirius, although it certainly needs a bit of love. He says the units would be highly desirable if they were renovated and “people are starting to realise the significance of the building”.

In the view of John Dunn, of Millers Point Residents Action Group, it’s not too late to save the Sirius.

 

“The government did its own study of Sirius and found it required minimal repairs.

“Love it or hate it, it’s definitely a distinctive part of Sydney’s history.”

 

Numerous architecturally significant buildings across Australia have already been knocked down for redevelopment.

 

The Regent cinema in George St bore architectural testimony to the Italian Renaissance, and was knocked down in 1990 after being sold for redevelopment. Its loss has been regretted ever since.

Anthony Hordern’s New Palace Emporium was knocked down for Sydney’s World Square. What used to be a marvel of Australian architecture and social success quickly became a haven for high-rise apartments and office buildings.