Each time you travel across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you see the Sirius building. Nestled in The Rocks and peeking up at the Bridge, "Sirius" has always stood out – thanks to its brutalist-style architecture, unusual repetitive geometric patterns – and the sign, in the window of Unit 74, that loudly proclaimed "One Way! Jesus" to all commuters driving by. It was also a talking point, because it was well-situated public housing – until recently. The apartment block captured the headlines when it was sold in 2019 by the Gladys Berejiklian-led NSW government for $150 million. And while there were promises to reinvest in social housing, the sale of Sirius displaced many long-time residents, most of whom were elderly, underprivileged and had lived in this pocket of Sydney for generations.
After an extensive redevelopment spanning five years, Sirius has reopened its doors to new Sydneysiders – ones from a very different socio-economic bracket. The building has been converted into 76 luxury apartments worth a total of more than $435 million.
The old Sirius building was originally designed by architect Tao Gofers – 79 small apartments that were purpose-built to rehouse public tenants who had been displaced from The Rocks during the 1960s and '70s. When Sirius was sanctioned for sale, many of these residents did not want to relocate and felt bullied. After all, their families had lived in Millers Point for generations.
Myra Demetriou, the last public housing tenant of the Sirius building, became the face of the ‘Save Our Sirius’ (SOS) campaign. Despite being frail and elderly, she fought to preserve the building as social housing, famously displaying the ‘SOS’ lights in her 10th-floor window. Along with other residents and supporters, she campaigned for heritage protection, but was ultimately unsuccessful. In 2018, she was evicted, and later moved to a retirement village where she lived until her passing in 2021.
JDH Capital, Dedico and BVN Architecture are behind the new look Sirius building, which now features distinctive copper pods that will naturally acquire a patina over time, and blend in with the old pods that have been given a makeover. The revamped building offers breathtaking views of the harbour, with some high-end apartments guaranteed nearly 360-degree panoramic views of Sydney. Of course, the water views come at seriously steep prices; while small studio apartments have been offered up from $1.55m, for a three-bedroom apartment you're looking at about $15 million.
NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson has said eye-watering figures figures reinforced “what a dud deal the whole thing was” for everyone other than the developers who were now flogging off those apartments for many millions. She's argued that there should be "a place for diversity in all our suburbs and for public housing alongside every walk of life but, if [the government] was going to sell it, they obviously got a completely dud deal,” as told to The Guardian.
“This is a little piece of our diverse Sydney history that’s lost. I think it’s sad. I can’t get Sirius back but we cannot make that mistake again,” says Minister Jackson.
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