November 2024 | Media Releases
Parramatta Square gains world recognition with dual Award for Excellence
6 & 8 Parramatta Square has received two awards for excellence at the prestigious Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Awards for Excellence in London.
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The Tall Building Awards recognise projects which have made an extraordinary contribution to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, as well as achieving sustainability and well-being at the highest level with the most impact.
6 & 8 Parramatta Square received ‘Award for Excellence’ in two categories; the Best Tall Building by Region for Oceania and Best Tall Building by Height (200-299m).
Walker Corporation Managing Director and CEO David Gallant said 6 & 8 Parramatta Square has led a major transformation in Greater Sydney’s geographical heart.
“Parramatta Square’s recognition on the world stage, is the product of a bold, transformational vision from our late Founder and Executive Chairman Lang Walker AO who always knew where Sydney was growing and why Western Sydney needed a modern CBD with the best infrastructure."
David Gallant - Walker Managing Director & CEO
“6 & 8 Parramatta Square was designed to be the largest commercial building by floorspace in Australia so we could bring tens of thousands of new jobs to Western Sydney, Australia’s third largest economy. And as a result of those new jobs in our premium commercial towers, we have been able to activate Parramatta’s CBD into a thriving, vibrant civic heart.”
“The Tall Building Awards 2024 theme asked the question ‘New or Renew?’; but Lang Walker was always of the opinion you can do both exceptionally well, ensuring we conserve and revitalise the rich culture and heritage of Parramatta, while delivering state of the art architecture, new large public spaces and civic centres, integrated with public transport, restaurants and cafes whilst exceeding sustainability benchmarks.”
At 55 storeys and 243 metres high, the 6 & 8 Parramatta Square tower came up against competition from Canada, USA, England, China, Taipei and India.
The Parramatta Square project demonstrated to the judging panel how it recognised and overcame various urban challenges including disconnected public infrastructure, rich heritage with no integration into the public realm, degraded commercial office stock, badly defined and unsafe public spaces and poor-quality retail experiences.
JPW Architects Director Graeme Dix said 6 & 8 Parramatta Square deserves world recognition for its functional form and placemaking excellence.
“6 & 8 Parramatta Square is the keystone of this once-in-a-generation CBD renewal where we have been able to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people through quality design and integration.”
Graeme Dix - JPW Director
“We had a strong focus to create sustainable, flexible, diverse and connected workplaces to ensure Parramatta was able to exceed the needs of modern businesses and their workforces.”
“6 & 8 Parramatta Square towers high in the Western Sydney skyline, tying together an incredible vision of urban renewal and restoration below, integrating beautifully with Australia’s oldest church site at St John’s Cathedral.”
Parramatta Square by Walker is the country’s most sustainable commercial precinct, after taking out first place in the coveted NABERS Sustainable Portfolio Index national environmental honours earlier this year, beating 414 other commercial assets in Australia.
6 & 8 Parramatta Square is also the largest building in Australia to be awarded the highest achievable 6 Star Green Office Design and As-Built (v.1) rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
The precinct diverted over 90% of building waste during construction away from landfill by reusing and recycling materials throughout the project’s lifecycle.
Parramatta Square also changed the city’s central civic space in a safe public domain joining over 90 other global destinations to proudly fly Purple Flag Accreditation, which recognises the excellence of vibrancy, diversity and safety at night.
