Team Contributor to Iconic Sydney Olympic Athletes Village.

As noted in a 2020 realestate.com.au article by Aiden Devine, the Sydney 2000 Olympics Athletes' Village continues to serve as a blueprint for modern Australian housing developments. Twenty years on, its innovative design and urban planning strategies have profoundly influenced contemporary housing projects across the country. This enduring legacy echoes the visionary principles and forward-thinking approaches initiated during the Olympic era, shaping the trajectory of sustainable and innovative housing in Australia.

In 1997, the Sydney Olympic Park Authority signed a monumental $590 million contract with the Mirvac Lend Lease Village Consortium. Comprising of Mirvac, Lend Lease, Civil & Civic, ANZ, and Westpac, this alliance was instrumental in shaping the Sydney Olympic landscape. Yet, the intricacies behind this partnership remain lesser-known.

The architectural arm of Mirvac, led by its senior members who were also the founders of the company, played a crucial role. One of the company founder, favoured contemporary trends, while the other, aimed to push boundaries and achieve architectural recognition through the company's projects.

With the chance to bid for the Olympic village at Newington, Bob Hamilton foresaw the political intricacies involved in becoming the preferred developer chosen by the Australian Olympic committee. Keeping this in mind, he strategically sought the collaboration of Greenpeace and numerous award-winning residential architects from Sydney to bolster the bid's potential.

As one of the two project architects within the design team, my role involved collaborating with multiple architectural practices who created a diverse range of dwelling types. This collaborative effort included working with Bruce Eeles of Eeles Trelease Architects, Bruce Vote of Vote Associates, Tanner and Associates, Gordon and Valich, Virginia Kerridge Architects, Grose Bradley Associates, Order Architects, Tonkin Zulhaika, Peddle Thorpe and Walker, and Hassell.

Bruce Eeles and Bruce Vote initiated the village's style, drawing inspiration from Wyldfel Gardens, an innovative 1930s apartment building in Sydney's Potts Point. This groundbreaking design features a landscaped garden, structured in stepped tiers, cascading from one apartment level to the next. Notably, the lower apartment roofs function as terraces for the units above them.

This influence is evident in the initial three walk-up apartment buildings within Newington. The remaining walk-up apartment buildings were executed under the guidance of the two project architects, overseen by Eeles and Vote.

Vong Synbandhit, Mirvac's in-house town planner, was an unassuming but exceptionally skilled professional from Laos. He led the town planning efforts for the village, focusing on establishing a blueprint for apartment development and setting forth progressive town planning principles for Sydney's future.

Sinbandhit introduced a groundbreaking approach, diverging from the conventional method of selling high-priced lots along parkland edges and clustering buildings into areas where park views were obstructed by expensive homes. His innovative concept involved creating a ribbon-like arrangement of apartment buildings, maximising parkland views for numerous dwellings. Additionally, he established smaller, more secluded parks at the heart of housing clusters, offering distinct park frontage for homes and designated play areas for children.

The suburb's remarkable success can be attributed to various factors. Bob Hamilton's fervent pursuit of architectural recognition, coupled with the visionary styles of Bruce Eeles and Bruce Vote in building design, and Vong Sinbandhit's distinctive town planning approach, collectively contributed to the village's achievement of 40 prestigious awards in architecture and building.