Sirius Conversion, The Rocks, Sydney

Sirius was built between 1978 and 1980 for the New South Wales Housing Commission, on land beside the Sydney Harbour Bridge that the Builders Labourers Federation Green Bans saved from demolition. Tao Gofers designed it, and its 79 stacked concrete modules stepping down toward Circular Quay made it one of Australia’s most recognisable post-war buildings. When the state government moved to sell it, the Save Our Sirius campaign became the country’s defining modern heritage fight.

JDH Capital bought the building and, with architect BVN, converted it into 76 luxury apartments. Richard Crookes Constructions delivered the works, which completed in June 2024.

Project Scope

Amalgamation and extension of the original 79 dwellings into 76 apartments. Copper-clad pods added as a contemporary reading of the original concrete modules, creating outdoor rooms with harbour views. Additional lift cores inserted, structural repairs carried out, and a full services, fire and accessibility upgrade completed. BVN also designed most of the apartment interiors, the residential lobbies and the roof terraces.

Reported total sales value exceeded A$435 million, with the penthouse reported at around A$50 million. Construction cost hasn’t been disclosed.

Why It Matters

Sirius is the uncomfortable case study in heritage advocacy. The campaign to save the building succeeded on the architecture and lost on the use. A block built as public housing is now among the most expensive residential addresses in Sydney.

The construction lesson sits apart from that and travels further. A 1970s concrete structure with fixed module geometry absorbed new cores, new services and a full compliance upgrade without losing the massing that made it worth listing in the first place. That’s the technical argument for keeping post-war concrete buildings rather than demolishing them, and it now has a completed, priced example standing behind it.

Project Team & Details