White Bay Power Station Masterplan

Subsequent to the announcement that the NSW Government was proposing to undertake direct negotiations with Google for the lease of parts of the White Bay Power Station (WBPS), TERROIR were engaged by UrbanGrowthNSW to lead the team to prepare a masterplan for the site.

The masterplan was guided by the drivers for success of an Innovation District and to create a place which would attract and foster the brightest creatives in the tech industry. But there was a desire amongst our design team, which also included Urban & Public (landscape architecture) and Design 5 (heritage architecture) for more. We wanted to create a place that also protected and addressed the interests of the broader population and which showcased the layers of human innovation through time that were evident across the site. A number of components were considered within the creation of the masterplan and particularly the need for the masterplan to engage in the temporal factors which considered the logical but flexible expansion of the site and into integration into existing adjacent neighbourhoods, along with the other areas of the Bays Precinct to be developed subsequent to this site.

Whilst Google was genuinely engaged in the masterplan design and complimentary of the work undertaken by UGNSW and their supporting consultant team, unfortunately timing on decisions for major infrastructure and transport projects meant there was a lot of uncertainty around these elements and their influences on the site. This resulted in Google closing the negotiation process. The NSW Government are still committed to the creation of an Innovation District within the Bays Precinct and are continuing to engage with TERROIR around further design and urban strategy/planning work for the precinct.