HERITAGE WAREHOUSES REBORN AS SYDNEY WORKSPACES UNDER THE HARBOUR BRIDGE
A cluster of century-old warehouses beneath the Harbour Bridge has been transformed into a modern workplace hub, now home to more than 100 businesses.
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Six historic warehouses beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge have been given a new lease on life, re-emerging as Work inc., a co-working precinct housing over 100 businesses.
Built in the 1920s to support the construction of the Harbour Bridge, the Lavender Bay structures have served various roles over the decades, from housing highway patrol units to operating as car dealerships.
Founder Mark Davidson said the potential of the site became clear when he first encountered the abandoned Bay 10 warehouse.
“When I first stumbled upon the abandoned Bay 10 warehouse, it was leaky and forgotten, but I saw incredible potential,” Davidson said.
“We weren’t just building offices; we were building a community, creating a space where the grit of Sydney’s industrial heritage could inspire the next generation of innovators.”
The development retains much of the original industrial character, with soaring concrete walls and exposed steelwork now sitting alongside floating glass office pods, curated interiors and collaborative breakout zones.
Among the site’s quirks is Bay Ten Espresso, a café housed in a converted shipping container once seized during a major drug smuggling operation. It now serves as a coffee hub for both tenants and the wider Lavender Bay community.
Davidson said its inclusion underscored the broader theme of transformation.
“When we found this particular shipping container, its illicit past made it an even more compelling part of our story of reinvention. Now, it’s serving up a much-needed, perfectly legal kind of fix,” he said.
Work inc’s mix of preserved heritage and contemporary design has turned a piece of Sydney’s industrial history into a case study in adaptive reuse, while providing an unconventional workspace for the city’s growing business community.
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Australia’s median advertised rent has climbed to a record high, with every capital city recording quarterly price growth despite a slight lift in vacancy rates.
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Australia’s rental market has reached a new milestone, with national median advertised rents climbing to a record $670 per week in the June quarter as prices continued to rise across every capital city.
New data from realestate.com.au shows national rents increased 3.1 per cent over the quarter and 6.4 per cent over the past year, while capital city rents rose 2.2 per cent over the quarter to a median of $690 per week, up $10 from the March quarter.
REA Group economist Luc Redman said rental price growth had continued despite a small increase in vacancy rates.
“National median rents reached a new high in the June quarter, with widespread price growth across the capitals,” he said.
“The rent increases occurred despite a small increase in the rental vacancy rate over the same period.”
Melbourne and Perth recorded the strongest quarterly growth among the capitals, with rents increasing 3.5 per cent in each city. On an annual basis, Perth led the nation with rental growth of 10.3 per cent, followed by Hobart at 9.1 per cent and Darwin at 7.7 per cent.
Sydney remained Australia’s most expensive city for renters, with a median advertised rent of $800 per week, while Melbourne and Hobart were the most affordable capital cities at $600 per week.
Regional markets were more subdued, with rents holding steady over the quarter but remaining 5.3 per cent higher than a year ago, suggesting the rapid pace of growth outside the capitals has eased.
Mr Redman said the full impact of the Federal Budget’s changes to investor tax settings was yet to be seen.
“The May Federal Budget, which announced sweeping changes to investor tax settings, occurred in the middle of the quarter, so the full impact on the rental market is yet to be seen,” he said.
“While the vacancy rate has edged higher, the expected decrease in investor demand due to the budget’s tax changes could slow the pace of new supply, putting further pressure on rents.”
The report also found house rents continued to outpace units, rising 2.9 per cent across capital cities over the quarter compared with 1.5 per cent for units. Melbourne was the only capital where renting a unit was more expensive than renting a house, reflecting demand for well-located apartments.
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