As Bradfield City Centre in Western Sydney, Australia’s first new city in a century, prepares for its future, the newly completed First Building offers a glimpse into the city’s ambitions. Hassell’s design for this project - inspired by Indigenous narratives with key input from Djinjama, a First Nations cultural research and design agency - reflects the values of connection, sustainability and innovation central to Bradfield’s growth.
Inspired by its location on the Cumberland Plain and a deep reverence for Country, the First Building, housing Stage 1 of the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility (AMRF), blends architecture with the surrounding landscape. A natural colour palette and materials, including rammed earth, recycled glass and textiles, reflects Hassell’s commitment to sustainability and circularity (designing in a way that minimises waste and promotes reuse).
Facing the future while honouring the past, the project is a collaborative space for government, industry and research to incubate innovative manufacturing projects. As the name implies, it’s also the first building designed for the new city of Bradfield and the surrounding area of Aerotropolis, the new urban region set to transform Western Sydney.
This unique workplace features a visitor centre and public viewing spaces designed to showcase the real-time building progress of Australia’s newest sustainable, connected city. More importantly, it promotes design that is of its place and connected to Country.
With the design informed by Djinjama, the First Building is a celebration of the meandering and ephemeral water of the Cumberland Plain. It reinstates the site’s permeability, collecting and filtering the building and the site’s runoff across - through a richly planted landscape of Cumberland Plain plant species and water features.
“A new city requires a big dream… it’s incredibly exciting to see that dream taking shape here in Bradfield. The way this building plays with natural light, the way it sits at home in the landscape, it’s incredible attention to detail, it’s craftsmanship - not to mention the innovation and progress that will happen here. In short, it’s a beautiful place; and inside these four walls, serious work will be done,” stated Chris Minns, Premier of NSW.
An urban pavilion unique to place
Designed around the existing paddocks and tree stands but also as an urban pavilion in the future context of the city, the First Building is a human-scale structure that acts as a public space, providing relief from the density of the surrounding urban area. As the first building for the city of Bradfield, it sets a benchmark for the city to follow based on an ethos of being ‘connected, green and advanced’.
In the local Dharug language, the area hosting Aerotropolis is known as Wianamatta, which means ‘Mother Place’. It’s a site of significance for First Nations women, reflected in the building’s open and welcoming architectural expression, a design language centred on ideas of water and fluidity, and the use of warm, soft, natural materials that touch the ground lightly.
Strengthening ecological identity and function
The First Building demonstrates how contemporary urban landscapes can successfully represent, be informed by and champion existing ecology and natural landscape. It celebrates the Cumberland Plain of Western Sydney by immersing people and their activities within a richly planted, permeable ground plane of locally underused species. This will play a critical role in re-establishing the site’s ecological identity and set an important precedent for the future development of the Aerotropolis region.
Water and water management are of great significance to this site and its wider context. The First Building adopts a holistic approach to water by capturing and storing rainwater for greywater use and landscape irrigation. Existing water bodies, including the longest freshwater stream in Greater Sydney, will be regenerated to promote biodiversity, slow down runoff, and allow for natural filtration into the ground, which benefits the creek’s health.
Circular economy at the core
According to Djinjama’s Danièle Hromek, designing the First Building represents ‘a massive opportunity across time and space’. Appropriately, it answers the burning question: what happens when the building outlives its use? Here, the architects have embedded the idea of circular economy.
The building has been conceived as a ‘kit of parts’, its timber structure comprising prefabricated modular components that are mechanically fixed together. These can be disassembled, expanded, or even relocated. When the building has served its purpose and reaches the end of its life, it can be repurposed or even relocated within the city for an entirely different use.
As Bradfield grows, the First Building sets a precedent for future development. It embodies a deep respect for the environment and a forward-thinking approach to designing places that respond to the challenges facing our planet today.
“Our modular design for the First Building ensures adaptability to future changes, allowing components to be disassembled, reconfigured, or reused as Bradfield evolves,” concluded Liz Westgarth, Managing Director, Hassell.
