Controversial proposal for Sydney's Domain precinct prioritises cultural infrastructure

A bold proposal to redevelop the Domain carpark into a performing arts precinct has been released, prompting a mixed response.

The plan put forward by leading architectural firm Grimshaw for four performance halls, including a 2,500 seat theatre, Indigenous cultural centre and rehearsal space would also include a revitalisation of the Woolloomooloo precinct, taking in the arterial William Street and older social housing.

Grimshaw managing partner Andrew Cortese said the scheme sought to address some of the transport incursions introduced over the past 30 years including the Eastern Distributor and Domain Tunnel through the creation of green roofs for the cultural facilities and landscaping following the natural slope of the land from the Domain down to Sir John Young Crescent.

“The second and much larger green space will be located on a land bridge to be built over the exit of the Domain Tunnel, presently on the doorstep of the new Sydney Modern gallery, covering this ugly roadway with a land bridge which can accommodate all the playing fields now residing on top of the Domain Car Park” Mr Cortese said.

Mr Cortese said while cities like Melbourne and international neighbours such Singapore, Kowloon and Shenzhen were investing in cultural infrastructure, Sydney was falling short.

However, NSW Cities Minister Rob Stokes said with city greenspace at a premium, there were concerns about development of this site, suggesting an arts precinct would be better located in Pyrmont, or placed closer to transport hubs in Western Sydney.

Mr Cortese said those sites had been considered but that the Domain precinct represented the best position in a post Covid CBD environment.

“The principal reason for the location is to reverse the trend of the City of Sydney tending to situate world-class cultural facilities facing the harbour – our traditional location for all our major cultural institutions – and actually situate them in the community of the city and in a vibrant, connected precinct,” he said.

In explaining why a location further west was not chosen, Mr Cortese said Grimshaw fully supported the creation of new cultural infrastructure in Western Sydney but until the opening of West Metro in 2030 there was very little in the way of public transport, aside from heavy rail.

Grimshaw has offices around the world, including Sydney, and is responsible for a wide range of influential public projects, with works spanning the arts, education and infrastructure in the US, China, the UK and more.

A development of this size of the Domain carpark would expect to take a couple of decades or more to come to fruition.

Grimshaw global practice lead for cities, Dr Tim Williams, said as Sydneysiders adopted a hybrid work model, the notion of CBDs being primarily about industry needed revisiting.

“We need to reimagine, revitalise and represent these precincts because with hybrid working now the norm much of their economic rationale and vibrancy has dissipated,” Dr Williams said. “Across the world we are seeing on the one hand stranded retail, office and hospitality assets but also initiatives to reinvent a city core’s attractors so as to ‘earn the commute’: that is, to give people in the suburbs special new reasons to come to town.

“The kind of culture-led renewal we propose for East Sydney – as single use CBDs transition to more mixed use ‘central experience districts’ – will be crucial to the success of this strategy and give new reasons for international visitors to come too.”

The marketplace has spoken and, at least for now, it’s showing preference for hybrids and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) over battery electrics. That makes Toyota’s foot dragging on EVs (and full speed ahead on hybrids) look fairly wise, though the timeline along a bumpy road still gets us to full electrification by 2035.

Italian supercar producer Lamborghini, in business since 1963, is also proceeding, incrementally, toward battery power. In an interview, Federico Foschini , Lamborghini’s chief global marketing and sales officer, talked about the new Urus SE plug-in hybrid the company showed at its lounge in New York on Monday.

The Urus SE interior gets a larger centre screen and other updates.
Lamborghini

The Urus SE SUV will sell for US$258,000 in the U.S. (the company’s biggest market) when it goes on sale internationally in the first quarter of 2025, Foschini says.

“We’re using the contribution from the electric motor and battery to not only lower emissions but also to boost performance,” he says. “Next year, all three of our models [the others are the Revuelto, a PHEV from launch, and the continuation of the Huracán] will be available as PHEVs.”

The Euro-spec Urus SE will have a stated 37 miles of electric-only range, thanks to a 192-horsepower electric motor and a 25.9-kilowatt-hour battery, but that distance will probably be less in stricter U.S. federal testing. In electric mode, the SE can reach 81 miles per hour. With the 4-litre 620-horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine engaged, the picture is quite different. With 789 horsepower and 701 pound-feet of torque on tap, the SE—as big as it is—can reach 62 mph in 3.4 seconds and attain 193 mph. It’s marginally faster than the Urus S, but also slightly under the cutting-edge Urus Performante model. Lamborghini says the SE reduces emissions by 80% compared to a standard Urus.

Lamborghini’s Urus plans are a little complicated. The company’s order books are full through 2025, but after that it plans to ditch the S and Performante models and produce only the SE. That’s only for a year, however, because the all-electric Urus should arrive by 2029.

Lamborghini’s Federico Foschini with the Urus SE in New York.
Lamborghini

Thanks to the electric motor, the Urus SE offers all-wheel drive. The motor is situated inside the eight-speed automatic transmission, and it acts as a booster for the V8 but it can also drive the wheels on its own. The electric torque-vectoring system distributes power to the wheels that need it for improved cornering. The Urus SE has six driving modes, with variations that give a total of 11 performance options. There are carbon ceramic brakes front and rear.

To distinguish it, the Urus SE gets a new “floating” hood design and a new grille, headlights with matrix LED technology and a new lighting signature, and a redesigned bumper. There are more than 100 bodywork styling options, and 47 interior color combinations, with four embroidery types. The rear liftgate has also been restyled, with lights that connect the tail light clusters. The rear diffuser was redesigned to give 35% more downforce (compared to the Urus S) and keep the car on the road.

The Urus represents about 60% of U.S. Lamborghini sales, Foschini says, and in the early years 80% of buyers were new to the brand. Now it’s down to 70%because, as Foschini says, some happy Urus owners have upgraded to the Performante model. Lamborghini sold 3,000 cars last year in the U.S., where it has 44 dealers. Global sales were 10,112, the first time the marque went into five figures.

The average Urus buyer is 45 years old, though it’s 10 years younger in China and 10 years older in Japan. Only 10% are women, though that percentage is increasing.

“The customer base is widening, thanks to the broad appeal of the Urus—it’s a very usable car,” Foschini says. “The new buyers are successful in business, appreciate the technology, the performance, the unconventional design, and the fun-to-drive nature of the Urus.”

Maserati has two SUVs in its lineup, the Levante and the smaller Grecale. But Foschini says Lamborghini has no such plans. “A smaller SUV is not consistent with the positioning of our brand,” he says. “It’s not what we need in our portfolio now.”

It’s unclear exactly when Lamborghini will become an all-battery-electric brand. Foschini says that the Italian automaker is working with Volkswagen Group partner Porsche on e-fuel, synthetic and renewably made gasoline that could presumably extend the brand’s internal-combustion identity. But now, e-fuel is very expensive to make as it relies on wind power and captured carbon dioxide.

During Monterey Car Week in 2023, Lamborghini showed the Lanzador , a 2+2 electric concept car with high ground clearance that is headed for production. “This is the right electric vehicle for us,” Foschini says. “And the production version will look better than the concept.” The Lanzador, Lamborghini’s fourth model, should arrive in 2028.

Controversial proposal for Sydney’s Domain precinct prioritises cultural infrastructure

A bold plan for Sydney’s Domain carpark including four theatres has been aired but opponents question the location at the cost of valuable city greenspace.