Lendlease and Armani/Casa Unveil Cove at One Circular Quay
4 min
In a landmark moment for Australian luxury real estate, Lendlease and Armani/Casa have unveiled the Cove Residence, Australia’s first private residence by a global design house and the first private home in the country to be developed in collaboration with Armani/Casa. Occupying an entire floor on level 53 of One Circular Quay, the 537-square-metre sub penthouse places Sydney alongside New York, Miami, London and Dubai in a category long defined by the world’s most storied design houses.
Branded residences are among the fastest-growing segments in global luxury real estate, with the number of branded developments worldwide forecast to rise by 59 per cent in the five years to 2029, according to Knight Frank’s Global Branded Residence Survey 2025. Cove marks Armani/Casa’s first collaboration in Australia, joining a global portfolio of residences in cities including New York, Miami, Dubai, Istanbul, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing.
The commission also builds on a long-standing working relationship between the two houses. In 2009, Lendlease delivered the Armani Hotel Milano in the Palazzo on Via Manzoni on behalf of Emaar Hotels & Resorts. Cove brings that collaboration to Sydney in residential form.
According to John Taylor, Head of Product & Design at Lendlease, Cove represents a defining chapter in the One Circular Quay story.
“Lendlease and Armani/Casa share a conviction that true luxury is quiet, considered and made to last. To introduce for the first time in Australia a property fully furnished in collaboration with Armani/Casa, in a single whole-floor residence at One Circular Quay, is a moment of real significance for Sydney and for the branded residences category in this country,” he said.
Cove sits within an architectural envelope designed by Kerry Hill Architects, with interiors by Daniel Goldberg and furniture selection and styling by Armani/Casa. The palette is drawn from the tonal register Giorgio Armani described as greige, a term for the space between grey and beige, layered with sand, off-white, Canaletto Walnut and Satin Light Brass. Precious materials and finishes are made in Italy by artisans using traditional techniques, including hand-applied finishes exclusively developed by Armani/Casa such as Brass Carved Liquid Metal and White Gold Drafted Stucco.
The residence has been composed around the four pillars that guide Armani/Casa as a design house: Art, Fashion, Nature and The Orient. A 165-centimetre column lamp in Onyx-Textured Metal, the Nema floor lamp, greets residents at the entry, with the lighting throughout the residence creating a warm and tranquil atmosphere.
In the principal suite, the Morfeo bed, a celebrated, softly curved floating design finished in Canaletto Walnut and Majilite Chinchilla upholstery, anchors the room. In the formal living room, a five by five and a half metre-square silk and wool rug carries the canneté stripe, a three-dimensional woven texture that has run through Giorgio Armani’s fashion collections since the very beginning, flanked by timber lattice screens drawn from the geometry of Japanese shoji and torii.
On the desk of the study rests the Limited Edition Logo lamp with a dimmable function, shade in Methacrylate and Copper Mesh, base in Satin Light Brass and Canaletto Wood, now a collectors item and no longer available to purchase around the globe.
The Logo lamp was designed by Giorgio Armani in 1982 for his own Milan stores to cast even light on his collections, and adopted soon after as the emblem of Armani/Casa itself.
Whole-floor living sits at the heart of the proposition. Residents arrive via a private lift lobby that opens directly into the home, with no shared corridors and no compromise on privacy. The principal living and entertaining volumes are oriented to frame an uninterrupted sweep across the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the harbour beyond. A primary suite anchors one end of the floor with its own boutique-inspired dressing room and a private spa ensuite, while secondary bedrooms and a study are grouped at the opposite end for privacy. Generous proportions throughout allow each space to breathe, and a terrace extends the living areas into the harbour air.
The owner of Cove will be welcomed into the world of Armani. The invitation begins with a private stay at the Armani Hotel Milano and a personal design experience at the Armani/Casa flagship in Corso Venezia, granting the owner a behind the scenes look at the craft and creation of the Armani/Casa products.
One Circular Quay is more than 90 per cent sold and is due to complete later this year. With its harbourfront position, the building has already established itself as the benchmark address for a new generation of Sydney residents.
Victorian auction buyers will soon receive a piece of information that has traditionally been withheld until bidding reaches it: the vendor’s reserve price. Under new property-sale and underquoting laws, agents must publish the agreed reserve at least seven days before an auction or fixed-date sale. Most changes begin on 1 October 2026 and apply to …
Continue reading “Victoria’s New Auction Rules Will Force Reserve Prices Into the Open”
Four decks, 34.5 metres and a made-to-measure interior: step aboard the new Custom Line Navetta 35, unveiled at Cannes.
New detached-home sales fell 10% nationally in August, led by a 27% decline in Victoria, raising concerns about construction starts in 2027.
2 min
Australia’s hoped-for recovery in housing construction is losing momentum before it has had time to close the national supply gap.
Sales of new detached homes fell 10 per cent nationally in August, according to the Housing Industry Association’s survey of major volume builders across the five largest mainland states. It was the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
The fall was broad rather than isolated. Victoria recorded the largest retreat, down 27 per cent, followed by Queensland at 20.2 per cent, New South Wales at 17.5 per cent, South Australia at 10.8 per cent and Western Australia at 8.2 per cent.
Across the three months to August, sales were 19.3 per cent below the preceding three-month period and 7.7 per cent lower than the equivalent period a year earlier.
New-home sales matter beyond the immediate fortunes of volume builders. They are an early indicator of future starts: buyers sign contracts, finance is finalised, approvals are secured and construction follows months later. A sustained sales decline during the middle of 2026 is therefore likely to weaken commencements during 2027.
The slowdown reflects the collision of several pressures. Households have absorbed multiple interest-rate rises, reducing borrowing capacity and increasing the repayment cost attached to a new build. Established-home prices have softened in some markets, weakening the relative appeal of waiting through a construction period. Builders continue to face elevated labour and material costs.
The Reserve Bank’s August analysis showed new-dwelling construction prices increased 1.8 per cent during the June quarter and 5.3 per cent over the year. It attributed part of the pressure to oil-derived building products and other conflict-related costs.
Policy uncertainty can also cause buyers and investors to defer large commitments. But the precise contribution of any single tax or regulatory change is difficult to isolate from rates, confidence, land prices and construction costs. The HIA survey should be read as an indicator from large builders rather than a complete count of every dwelling sale.
The figures complicate progress towards the Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes. The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council reported 308,000 completions since the Accord began and 244,000 dwellings under construction in the March quarter. Approvals and commencements had improved, but falling sales risk undermining the next wave.
For developers and governments, the warning is that planning approvals alone do not create homes. Projects need finance, viable construction pricing and buyers able to settle. If one part fails, approved supply can remain on paper.
Data box
National August new-home sales: Down 10 per cent
Three months to August: Down 19.3 per cent from the preceding three months
Year-on-year three-month comparison: Down 7.7 per cent
Victoria: Down 27 per cent
Queensland: Down 20.2 per cent
New South Wales: Down 17.5 per cent
South Australia: Down 10.8 per cent
Western Australia: Down 8.2 per cent
On October 2, acclaimed chef Dan Arnold will host an exclusive evening, unveiling a Michelin-inspired menu in a rare masterclass of food, storytelling and flavour.
Exclusive eco-conscious lodges are attracting wealthy travellers seeking immersive experiences that prioritise conservation, community and restraint over excess.
