Sydney's best buildings
Elizabeth Farrelly takes a tour of her five favourite buildings in Sydney and explains why they work so well.
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An aquatic centre, a university law building and a gothic church have been nominated as among the five best buildings in Sydney.
Architecture expert Elizabeth Farrelly says she "really tried not to like" the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre, on Harris Street in Ultimo, when it was first built because of what she described as its "ridiculous" wave theme.
But in spite of herself, Farrelly was soon enchanted by the Harry Seidler-designed centre, which she describes as being one of the most enchanting pavilions in the country.
University of Sydney Law School. Photo: Sam Scotting
In the video above, Farrelly includes the aquatic centre in her list of Sydney's five best buildings.
This follows on from her list last week of the city's five worst buildings.
The Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre. Photo: Adam Hollingworth
The best buildings as nominated by Farrelly are:
1 Bligh Street, Sydney's CBD
Farrelly says this building - the first to achieve a 6-star Green Star rating - is her favourite office block in the city, which uses an egg-shaped plan to create a hole through the centre of the building.
"What that does is it allows natural air in the foyer and all the way up the building so it becomes a source of fresh air for all of the office spaces," she says.
St Stephens Anglican Church, 189 Church Street, Newtown
Farrelly says St Stephens Anglican Church, designed by Edmund Blacket in 1840, is one of her favourite churches in the country.
"This particular church is really special because it retains that sense of sort of gloom and sacredness which is lost from so many churches these days," she says.
"If the purpose of architecture is to resist the mundane, this one I think does it brilliantly."
Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre, 458 Harris Street, Ultimo
After having initial doubts about the wave metaphor associated with the building, Farrelly was won over by the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre.
"This is actually one of Harry Seidler's latest, but also finest, works. It's a slightly silly, maybe a bit fatuous, metaphor outside, but inside it's just a breathtakingly beautiful room," Farrelly says.
University of Sydney Law School, City Road, Camperdown
Farrelly says the new law school at the The University of Sydney, designed by Richard Francis-Jones, is one of "the most masterful constructions in space and light".
The building sits along one edge of the university's main campus facing the city, and is the gateway to the campus.
While the building is not air-conditioned, it uses natural ventilation in a "natural and clever" way, Farrelly says.
Margaret Fink's residence, Darlinghurst
Keith Cottier designed this house for filmmaker Margaret Fink in 1995. It is set back from the road, giving the building a secretive quality.
But it opens up into a "magic world" that can be explored, Farrelly says.
"It's been designed as a series of spaces and experiences and connections and movement, so you get that lovely spatial sequence happening, almost like a dance," Farrelly says.
What do you think are Sydney's best buildings? Leave your comments below.
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