SOM, Hassell, Djinjama, and COLA Studio share masterplan for “civic heart” of Bradfield City in Western Sydney, Australia

A masterplan by SOM, Hassell, and cultural design partners Djinjama and COLA Studio was revealed this week for Superlot 1—Bradfield City’s foundational First Land Release.

Bradfield City is a new 280-acre metropolis underway in Australia next to the Western Sydney International Airport, just over 30 miles west of downtown Sydney. It will be the first new city built in Australia since Canberra, Australia’s capital city, was finished a century ago.

The goal driving the $1 billion effort is to spur “tourism, economic activity and employment” in Greater Sydney.

The First Land Release is conceived as the “civic heart of Bradfield City,” SOM shared in a statement. It will be connected to Sydney via Bradfield Station, a new transit hub that will serve as a terminus on the Sydney Metro-Western Sydney Airport Line.

The future district will comprise 15 acres and have more than 1,400 homes—10 percent of which will be affordable—as well as a university campus, commercial offices, a hotel, child care services, retail spaces, and public plazas.

Plenary, an infrastructure group, is now seeking a university partner to move into the campus.

Renderings show approximately 20 midrise buildings populating the First Land Release sandwiched between green spaces. A low-lying, pitched roof pavilion made of timber will house food & beverage options, and other amenities.

The masterplan is slated for unceded Aboriginal land in proximity to the largest urban Indigenous population in Australia, according to researchers Rebecca Clements and Tooran Alizadeh who have criticized Bradfield City’s colonial name.

The pavilion will have a woven canopy of interlocking timber, meant to reflect the Aboriginal principle of “enoughness,” or “taking only what is needed,” SOM said.

A 50-foot wide linear park, what SOM calls the Green Loop, will connect with the Moore Gully, a nearby nature reserve. The material palette will take cues from the Moore Gully’s earth tones, as well as the Sky Country’s ridge line.

SOM and Hassell are specifying low-carbon, high-performance materials such as terra-cotta and timber; and green roofs, biosolar systems, and water-sensitive infrastructure.

Hassell completed the first building in Bradfield City, the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility, last year as part of the massive initiative backed by the New South Wales State Government.