Surry Hills Village transformed a city fringe shopping centre into a vibrant mixed use precinct. The diverse precinct combined multi-storey residential accommodation, a 102 key hotel  andcommercial workplaces all around central retail, hospitality spaces and a new public domain fronted by a retained heritage façade.

Behind the completed precinct is a highly coordinated civil and structural engineering strategy. Robert Bird Group were engaged from the early design period through documentation, construction and close out, helping translate a complex and commercially active development into one buildable urban outcome.

The work required careful coordination of foundations, shoring, transfer structures, post tensioned concrete, engineered timber, façade support, heritage interfaces, stormwater, water sensitive urban design and public domain works across multiple building typologies over a shared basement and podium structure.

Challenge

Surry Hills Village required the RBG project team to make a layered urban precinct work as one engineering system. The development needed to combine multiple building typologies, retained heritage fabric, three basement levels and new public domain on a constrained inner Sydney site. Each component brought different structural grids, loads, access requirements, façade treatments and servicing needs, while relying on a shared civil and structural strategy.

The pace of the project and staged handovers added another layer of complexity. TOGA needed to maintain momentum across approvals, procurement, sales, leasing and construction, with several workstreams progressing concurrently. Early decisions on shoring, foundations, basement planning, services, public domain and structural grids needed to support early works while leaving enough flexibility for later design packages to develop.

The shared basement and podium structure concentrated much of the technical risk. Robert Bird Group needed to resolve variable ground conditions, retention and groundwater conditions, tank interfaces, load transfers, column locations, loading dock clearances, services penetrations and authority assets to produce an architecturally functioning basement layout. Above ground, the engineering strategy had to support distinct building typologies and material systems, including engineered timber, masonry façades, rooftop structures and the retained heritage building.

Robert Bird Group’s task was to provide a civil and structural strategy that could absorb change, manage risk and keep the precinct’s staged delivery moving.

How Robert Bird Group added value

A precinct wide structural strategy for multiple building typologies

Robert Bird Group established the engineering logic for several building forms over three basement levels and a shared podium structure. The strategy used post tensioned concrete slabs, transfer beams, local transfer walls and vertically coordinated column locations to reconcile residential, hotel, retail, commercial and public domain uses, while protecting critical headroom, and services zones across the basement and podium.

This precinct wide approach became important as individual building packages evolved. For the commercial building, Robert Bird Group helped coordinate the engineered timber system, including cross laminated timber panels and glulam members, with structural framing, services penetrations, Revit based documentation and fabrication sequencing. This helped maintain the architectural intent while supporting later changes, including conference and event use requirements.

The hotel was integrated into the same structural system, with Robert Bird Group resolving changes in loading, back of house planning, roof framing, façade support and rooftop pool requirements while the surrounding residential, retail, commercial and public domain works continued to progress.

Managing below ground complexity

Below ground, Robert Bird Group helped align early works risk with the permanent basement strategy. The foundation design responded to variable rock levels, using pad footings where rock was shallow and piles where levels dropped. The shoring and retention strategy considered excavation methodology, capping beam levels along the site boundary, temporary anchoring requirements and waterproofing strategy along with the constraints from adjacent authority assets and sensitive above ground heritage elements.

This work was supported by specialist geotechnical, hydrogeological and shoring inputs, including SMEC’s independent review of the shoring design and shoring wall analysis. Those inputs informed assumptions for rock levels, pile toe depths, anchor loads, groundwater control and the interface between temporary shoring and the permanent basement structure.

By resolving these issues early, Robert Bird Group helped progress basement and early works while protecting the long-term structural logic of the precinct as later design packages developed.

Supporting sustainable renewal

Robert Bird Group’s work supported the project’s broader sustainability ambitions through adaptive reuse, engineered timber, material efficiency and water sensitive civil design. Sister company [Atelier Ten] also supported Surry Hills Village, with an environmental design scope that included thermal comfort analysis, daylight and glare studies, and guidance on envelope performance across different residences, orientations and façade conditions.

Robert Bird Group’s civil and structural work helped carry those ambitions into the built outcome through façade support, engineered timber interfaces, services zones, public domain levels, stormwater and water sensitive urban design.

Rainwater and on-site detention infrastructure helped manage stormwater impacts, while coordinated levels, utilities and public domain works helped open the former enclosed shopping centre site into a more connected and resilient urban precinct.

Bringing design intent into delivery

During construction, Robert Bird Group responded to the inherent dynamics of a mixed-use development  programme, where temporary works, permanent structure, authority requirements and architectural interfaces evolved along with development priorities.  The team helped TOGA and the contractor make clear engineering decisions as site conditions, sequencing constraints and design changes converged.

This support was important where the precinct’s architectural character depended on detailed structural coordination.

The retained heritage building required a particularly careful response. Robert Bird Group integrated  façade bracing, local strengthening, staged removal and connections between retained fabric and new structure, helping protect the heritage elements while new works progressed around them.

Outcome and impact

Surry Hills Village has been delivered as a mixed-use precinct that reconnects a former inward-facing shopping centre site with surrounding streets, laneways and public spaces. At street level, the result feels open and established, while the engineering behind it resolved significant structural and civil complexity across the site.

Robert Bird Group’s contribution helped the project absorb change without losing coherence. Early involvement gave TOGA a framework for progressing approvals, procurement and construction while giving the necessary time for the individual building packages to develop. During delivery, continued engineering support helped manage interface risk, protect retained heritage elements and resolve site conditions without compromising the broader design intent.

Surry Hills Village demonstrates the value of clear engineering strategy and sustained construction phase support when complex urban renewal projects need to move from ambitious design intent to a buildable, connected outcome.

Project Summary

• Residential - 122 dwellings, comprising 116 apartments across four towers and 6 terrace houses.
• Hotel - The Eve Hotel Sydney, with 102 rooms, ground level lobby and reception, four accommodation levels, and a rooftop pool and bar.
• Commercial building - Cross laminated timber commercial building fronting Cleveland Street, with 4,145 sqm of office space over five levels above retail.
• Retail and hospitality - Approximately 8,000 sqm of retail, hospitality, wellness and boutique uses, including a major supermarket and food and beverage offer.
• Heritage building - Retained former Bank of NSW building, adapted for retail and commercial use as the precinct’s heritage anchor.
• Public domain - New public park, east-west laneway, Marriott Street footpath widening, courtyards and through-site connections to the surrounding street network.