Urban Case Study - Pyrmont

Woman - Pyrmont, it’s an area of enormous change yet also has an incredible sense of history about it. Most of the information for this photo story is drawn from the City of Sydney website and the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority publication Ultimo and Pyrmont: Decade of Renewal. The location of Pyrmont is almost unmatched with quick access to Darling Harbour, a short walk across Pyrmont Bridge to the CBD, with waterfront views and in close proximity to the Harbour Bridge, across the harbour is Balmain peninsular and not far away is quick access to the western suburbs with the Anzac Bridge.

In Pyrmont, you will find a mix of old and new, you’ll find cafes and renovated buildings, public access and glimpses of water. Pyrmont was once a vital component of Sydney’s industrial waterfront with wharves, shipbuilding yards, factories and wool stores. Up Harris St, towards Ultimo, there was a sandstone quarry and a vast power station, which is now the Powerhouse Museum. There were flour mills, sugar refineries and wood processing. The area was booming. This was a real working class suburb. They were suburbs of sweat and toil.

But half a century later, Pyrmont had fallen into decline and by the 1950s heavy industries closed, rusted and moved away. Workers live in small places but as industry moved out, so did the population.The area became very run down and was officially in a state of urban decay.

In 1994 just 5,000 people lived on the peninsula, this increased to 12,000 people by 2001 and the anticipated population by 2011 is approximately 17,000 people. This is all thanks to a government policy; a conscious effort to increase the number of people living in a particular area. This is called Urban Consolidation. Huge amounts of money have been poured into the area to construct high-rise apartment dwellings. There has been a focus on architecture in order to raise the quality of the built environment. Design guidelines with competition briefs have ensured premier apartment living. Construction continues, particularly in a place called Jacksons Landing.

A huge demand for dwellings in this area is driven by the proximity to the CBD and other major sources of employment. The preservation of cultural heritage is a significant issue in this area. Objects that were once used here but are now obsolete due to technological developments, now form sculptures and are representations of the past. The adaptive re-use of old buildings is quite common. The external shell is left but the internal side of the building is gutted and made into apartments, often being quite modern. Street signs are also an indication of the past indicating the heritage of the area.

The Gadigal indigenous people named the point Pirrama, meaning ‘rocking stone’. They used its high ground as a vantage point from which to hunt, its sandstone shoreline to fish and its rocks to chip off oysters.

This building on Bulwarra Rd, was once a sound recording studio and indications of past activity can be seen on the external windows, with the names of many, many musicians. What were once old working class pubs have now been done up to cater for the new clientele. It might be very well to develop an area but how do you develop a community? At one stage, there were very few children in the Pyrmont peninsula. Slowly that is increasing. This old pre-school experienced such decay. But the usual services, facilities and community input are all evident throughout Pyrmont.

Opportunities have been created for local businesses to enter and operate in the area, but there are major employers in the telecommunications and entertainment industries. New technologies replaced the old industries from an estimated workforce of 10,000 people in 1986, the working population increased to over 21, 000 people, according to 2001 Census figures.

Major employers in the area are Fairfax Media, the 7 Network, the 10 Network, ABC, Foxtel, Star City Casino and radio stations such as Nova and 2GB.

The character of the new Pyrmont and Ultimo neighbourhood is defined by its housing. It is a diverse mix of quality, medium density, new apartment living, interspersed with affordable units and terraces from the past century. One priority was to keep existing housing and to provide a range of new housing types. Real estate is big business in this area. The Pyrmont community had a legacy of housing at affordable prices for those working in local industries. This continues with the work of City West housing Pty Ltd. They provide 365 units of accommodation, housing about 800 people on the peninsula.

To ensure liveability, public areas and parks have also been a focus in the redevelopment of Pyrmont. A ribbon of green space and public access along the waterfront is a key planning principle. With areas for children, and leisure activities such as barbecues, people seem to enjoy these green spaces. In 1994 there were just 3, now there are 15. Waterfront promenades, public open reserves, pocket parks, landscaped playgrounds and recreational trails have opened up right across the precinct. Union square is a popular public place. It was landscaped in 1998, with the closure of Union St. It was once a main thoroughfare across the peninsula.

Now if you can’t get to Pyrmont by boat, then a car is probably the preferred option, but traffic congestion might be an issue. Critics of urban consolidation say that this increases traffic congestion. The intersection of Pyrmont Bridge Rd with the western distributor saw an increase in traffic volumes between 1996 and 2002. The western distributor and the Anzac Bridge provide the main connection between the city and the western suburbs. The opening of Anzac Bridge in December 1995 diverted large volumes of traffic away from Pyrmont but the problem of through-traffic still remains an issue. But think twice if you’re going to drive and park in Pyrmont. It’s quite expensive. So, take one of the upgraded bus services, or get the light rail. This opened in August 1997 and linked Pyrmont workers and residents directly to the city’s main transport hub, Central Station. Now services are every 5 minutes in peak periods and 11 minutes at other times. It’s electrically powered, so it imposes no pollution burdens on air quality and compared to the number of cars and buses moving the equivalent number of people it significantly reduces carbon dioxide levels for residents in the area. And the big push now is to ride. The City of Sydney is making a conscious effort to make our cities more sustainable.

So do you think Pyrmont is liveable?

Is this precinct sustainable?

And if so, will other suburbs follow in the footsteps of Pyrmont?

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