Japanese architect Kengo Kuma will design his first building in Australia; a landmark civic hub in the heart of Sydney.

Named the Darling Exchange, the building will house a new library, a ground floor open market hall, a childcare centre, an innovation exchange and a rooftop bar and restaurant with sweeping views over Tumbalong Park and the city’s Cockle Bay. It will form the centrepiece of the new inner-city village Darling Square, which is itself part of a AUS$3.4bn (US$2.5bn, €2.28bn, £1.8bn) transformation of Darling Harbour.

Renderings of Kuma’s design show a spiralling, coil-like wooden facade somewhat reminiscent of a Slinky toy.



“Our aim is to achieve architecture that is as open and tangible as possible to the community, and this is reflected in the circular geometry that creates a building that is accessible and recognisable from multiple directions,” said Kuma.

“The wooden screen wraps the exterior of the building in a dynamic and exciting manner, a historical reference to Darling Harbour originally being a hive of business activity and a focal point as a market exchange.

“The Darling Exchange will be an important civic building for Sydney, for all the public to enjoy, and a new community hub that people in the city can be proud of.”

A new 2,700sqm (29,000sq ft) urban square, designed by landscape architects Aspect Studios, will be an extension of Kuma’s building, and will include areas for pop-up markets, retail and public green space.

A lease agreement for the Exchange and urban square is expected to be finalised by the end of the year, subject to council approval and planning approval.

Steve McCann, managing director of Lendlease, said: “Throughout history, civic buildings and public squares have brought the community together. Our sincere desire is that The Darling Exchange will become a vibrant heart of the local community and a meeting place for all Sydneysiders and visitors.”

Lendlease recently unveiled plans for a new billion-dollar city precinct for Melbourne, which will have a floating sky park at its heart, and is working on another major, architecturally signfficant Sydney city quarter called Barangaroo South.

Kuma and his firm Kengo Kuma Architects are currently developing several high-profile leisure projects, including the cave-shaped Museum of Indigenous Knowledge in the Philippines and Japan’s National Stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – a project on which he was controversially chosen to replace Zaha Hadid.