S Surry Hills J OE L ROB I N S ON
Clockwise: The penthouse crowning the Calibre complex, and the building’s exterior; two views of the current Surry Hills record-holder, a three-level penthouse on Cooper Street
Sydney’s Surry Hills was once busy with the booming industrial trades of the early 20th century amid neglected terrace houses occupied by impoverished students and lodgers. But the increasingly desirable city-fringe locality, only a walk or light rail ride from Sydney’s CBD, is now continuing its trajectory as a yuppified suburb into 2020. The suburb has seen many of the heritage warehouses vacated by the rag trade skillfully converted into apartment buildings. While you still see the occasional fashion-laden trolley being wheeled through the streets, David Servi, of Spencer & Servi, who has been selling in the suburb for 35 years, reckons the trade won’t be present for much longer. Other thriving industries have completely disappeared in the ever-transforming suburb. The Griffiths Teas building on Wentworth Avenue helped elevate penthouse prices to $4 million in 2017. Nearby, the conversion of the older Edwards & Co Tea warehouse, where prices for an apartment recently hit $3.55 million, transformed the seedy, narrow streets into the site of New York-style residential opportunities. Next door the Droga family commissioned Neil Durbach and Camilla Block of Durbach Block Jaggers to undertake a conversion of a warehouse known as Project A, which was awarded two of Australia’s most prestigious architectural accolades – the Wilkinson Award in 1997 and the Robin Boyd award a year later. The opportunity for apartment developers these days lies mostly in replacing the nondescript office buildings that were built after the war. In the latest conversion, former offices in Cooper Street became the eight-storey Calibre complex, a resplendent apartment project designed by Koichi Takada and featuring the current trend for curved exterior facades. BresicWhitney agents Ivan Bresic and Christopher Breedon have a $5.5 million guide – a suburb record – for the recently completed slick white penthouse that crowns the complex. The two-level apartment with 165sq m of internal space has three bedrooms, including a master suite with walk-in wardrobe and ensuite. The top level is the rooftop, accessed by lift and dedicated to entertaining. It features a plunge pool, barbecue kitchen, outdoor shower and views of the city skyline. Takada described the Calibre building, which comprises 18 apartments, as an “urban forest” given the amount of decorative timber used throughout. The block was developed by Icon Oceania, headed by Nico Tjen. Late last year the Surry Hills apartment sale price record was broken when a threelevel penthouse further up Cooper Street sold for $5.05 million through Walter Burfitt-Williams at McGrath Estate Agents. “The premium Surry Hills apartment market has become more sophisticated and refined, with buyers reacting excitedly to properties that push boundaries in terms of both aesthetic and bespoke finish”, Burfitt-Williams says. He adds that during the marketing he uncovered a number of
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THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
| FEBRUARY 8-9, 2020
