Sirius building

The Sirius building is an apartment complex in The Rocks district of Sydney, Australia. Designed between 1978 and 1979 by architect Tao Gofers, the building is a prominent example of Brutalist architecture in Australia. It has striking repetitive geometries in reaction to the Japanese metabolist architecture movement. The complex was built to rehouse public tenants who had been displaced after a controversial redevelopment of the historic Rocks suburb during the 1960s and 70s.^[1]

It is notable for being the only high rise development in The Rocks. Sirius houses 79 apartments with generally one, two, three or four bedrooms with single story apartments to two and three storey walk ups.^[2] The original plan was to finish the building in a white colour to match the nearby Sydney Opera House. However, due to budget constraints, the building was finished in the standard Brutalist grey.

Unit 74 of the Sirius building became somewhat of an unofficial Sydney landmark; its sign displaying ‘One Way! Jesus’ clearly visible to Harbour Bridge commuters.^[3] The sign was in place for around 10 years, although the owner of the sign, Owen McAloon, and his motivations to spread a Christian message remained generally unknown.^[4]

The building housed many of the original residents who fought for their right to remain in the area during the famous Green bans, whose purpose was not to retain heritage buildings but rather to retain the working class community in The Rocks. Ironically many of the buildings remain, but the majority of the residents were moved into the Sirius apartments in the so-called 'people's plan'. The terraces and town houses they used to call home are owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA), who receive rent from the tenants living in the building.

In July 2016 the NSW Minister for Environment and Heritage announced that the building would not be heritage listed "despite a unanimous recommendation by the Heritage Council."^[5] The government's intention is to replace the existing 79 social housing apartments with 250 luxury apartments.^[6]

The S.O.S. lights inside Myra’s unit on the tenth floor flashed their message every night from November 2014 until June 2015. They were turned off while Minister Brad Hazzard considered how he might be able to save the social housing tenants of Millers Point, Dawes Point and The Rocks from ‘relocation’ and thereby avoid the destruction of this community. In December 2015 the S.O.S. lights were switched back on to broadcast a message that Sirius should be saved.^[7]

Brutalist style

Sirius (2014)

Facade

Sirius is among the few quality examples of the Brutalism style in Australia, demonstrating the style's objective of ethical design based on social concerns as well as its focus on the truthful expression of materials, function and structure.^[8] The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt has launched #SOSBrutalism, a growing database that currently contains over 700 Brutalist buildings. But, more importantly, #SOSBrutalism is a platform for a large campaign ‘to save our beloved concrete monsters’. The buildings in the database marked red are in particular jeopardy. There are few Australian entries in the project, but Sirius is at the top of the list of the world's endangered Brutalist buildings.^[9] SOSBrutalism will also lead into an exhibition to be jointly organized by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) and the Wüstenrot Stiftung and displayed at the DAM, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in April 2017.

“…what characterises the New Brutalism… is precisely its brutality, its je-m’en-foutisme, its bloody-mindedness.” —Reyner Banham, 1955

Heritage status, conservation, demolition

A decision to demolish the building was made in 2015^[10] by the Baird Coalition government. The NSW Heritage Council recommended heritage listing for the building in 2016,^[8][11][12] but this was denied by the Heritage Minister, Mark Speakman.^[13] The Land and Environment Court was advised in a hearing that redevelopment would affect views of the Sydney Opera House, a World Heritage Site, as well as "impinge on the Rocks' low-rise heritage, wharves, sandstone buildings and Victorian terraces".^[14]

Public support

The SOS (Save Our Sirius Foundation) was formed by people and organisations campaigning to save Sirius and its residents and is supported by the National Trust, the Australian Institute of Architects, the Millers Point Residents Action Group, Friends of Millers Point, Millers Point Public Housing Tenants Group, Unions NSW, CFMEU, and Jack Mundey, Green Ban campaigner who helped save The Rocks from redevelopment in the 1970s and was instrumental in the building of Sirius. The NSW president of the Australian Institute of Architects, Shaun Carter, is chairman of the Save Our Sirius Foundation,^[11] which produced middle-ground solutions for saving Sirius while achieving the government’s aims. Carter argued that any decision about the building should take account of its social, cultural and environmental significance.^[11] A set of S.O.S. lights flashed over The Rocks and Circular Quay from the top floor of Sirius when they were first installed to coincide with the exhibition S.O.S. Save our Sirius on 2 November 2014.^[2] Resident McAloon's sign was briefly replaced by lights flashing S.O.S. to the Harbour Bridge traffic, but this was soon 'confiscated' by Housing NSW and McAloon 'relocated' by Housing NSW.^[15] Other supporters of the building include Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and the Australian Labor Party. Anthony Albanese described the Sirius building as "not just a place people call home, but a symbol of inclusion."^[5]

Various public protests supported the inclusion of the building on the State heritage Register, including a petition, a crowd funded legal challenge, whose organisers aim to have the Minister's decision annulled;^[16][17][18] a rally;^[6] and a green ban announced by the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU), under which no company associated with union will be involved with any proposed demolition of the building.^[6]

Views of the building

From Circular Quay  From Avery Terrace  From East  Building signage

See also

• Architecture of Sydney
• Millers Point, New South Wales
• List of brutalist structures

References

Coordinates: 33°51′28″S 151°12′29″E / 33.857736°S 151.207945°E / -33.857736; 151.207945