THE WALDEN HITS $103 MILLION IN SALES WITHIN THREE HOURS AT NORTH SYDNEY LAUNCH

North Sydney’s apartment market notched another milestone with the launch of The Walden, where 55 per cent of the Stage One release exchanged contracts totalling $103 million within three hours of sales opening. The project is by ALAND, a gold star iCIRT rated developer and builder.

Positioned at 177 Walker Street on the eastern edge of the CBD, The Walden fronts uninterrupted harbour views from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Sydney Heads.

Limited local housing supply, strong demand from affluent downsizers and a growing population are cited as drivers of both interest and pricing in the suburb.

Data referenced in the release notes North Sydney apartment prices rose nearly 10 per cent in the 12 months to August 2025, compared with an average year to date gain of 0.7 per cent across wider Sydney. The precinct continues to benefit from public and private investment as it evolves into an 18 hour destination.

“It’s clear that North Sydney’s changing rapidly, and property buyers are excited both by what’s on offer in the suburb now, as well as what’s yet to come,” ALAND Founder Andrew Hrsto said.

“Against this backdrop, The Walden is set to become a benchmark for luxury living in North Sydney, and it’s perfectly poised for buyers to capitalise on the continued growth and transformation in the local area. With its unrivalled amenities, refined design, and rare balance of sophistication and community connection, The Walden delivers a lifestyle unlike anything else on the market.”

Planned resident facilities include a fully equipped gym, wellness and treatment room, spa, wine cellar, residents’ lounge, private dining room, pool, dedicated work from home and meeting spaces, plus concierge services.

“Apartment sales in North Sydney have remained robust throughout 2025, and today’s opening sales at The Walden reflect strong buyer confidence in the area’s ongoing revitalisation,” said Ben Stewart, Partner at SRM Residential, which is overseeing sales.

He added that purchasers are responding to apartment scale and amenity, along with metro connectivity that places Barangaroo three minutes away and Martin Place five minutes away.

“The Walden has the best views in this part of the North Shore which can never be built out, with 70% of apartments enjoying front row views of the harbour.”

Stewart also pointed to confidence in delivery and quality. “The design and sizing of apartments at The Walden is a level above the majority of other projects on the market, and we’re seeing buyers prioritise well designed apartments that offer both lifestyle appeal and long term investment potential.

“ALAND’s 23 years of delivery success, backed its Gold Star iCIRT rating and Latent Defect Insurance (LDI) have been embraced by this market.”

Construction is scheduled to commence in early 2026, with completion targeted for 2028.

For Jack Freeman, a compelling interior should not look as though it was completed in a single shopping trip.

The founder and designer behind FREEMAN & CO prefers rooms that develop through art, travel, commissioned furniture and objects collected over time. It is an approach that treats the home less as a decorative project and more as an evolving portrait of its owner.

“I am a true believer in collecting versus decorating,” Freeman says.

That distinction underpins the international practice he has built across private residences, hotels, property developments, yachts and private aviation. Its projects stretch from Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay and Toorak to Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean.

Although the locations and architecture vary considerably, the work is connected by a restrained design language. Natural stone, warm timbers and sculptural furniture establish the foundation, while art, bespoke lighting and individual objects give each interior its identity.

The objective is not to overwhelm a room with obvious symbols of expense. It is to create an environment that feels calm, layered and particular to the people living within it.

“The greatest luxury isn’t about excess,” Freeman says. “It’s about creating an oasis where you come home and feel immediately grounded — effortlessly chic and deeply personal.”

Collecting instead of decorating

Decorating can imply the completion of a room: selecting the required furniture, filling the available walls and producing a coherent finished image.

Collecting is less conclusive.

A collected interior has room to change as its owners travel, discover artists, inherit pieces or reassess how they use their home. Its character comes from the relationship between objects rather than adherence to a single brand or season.

That does not mean placing unrelated pieces together without discipline. The designer must understand scale, proportion, material and provenance well enough to create a dialogue between them.

A contemporary artwork might sit beside a historic piece of furniture. A precisely detailed new interior may be interrupted by an irregular object made by hand. Smooth stone can be balanced by timber, textiles or a patinated metal surface that becomes richer with age.

The tension between those elements is part of the appeal.

For Freeman, art is not an accessory to be added once the furniture plan is complete. It forms part of the architecture and atmosphere of the room from the beginning.

Lighting is considered in the same way. Beyond its practical purpose, a bespoke fitting can operate as a suspended sculpture, changing both the room’s composition and the way its materials are experienced after dark.

A design perspective shaped by travel

International travel plays a significant role in Freeman’s creative process.

Design fairs such as PAD Paris and Salone del Mobile in Milan provide opportunities to encounter emerging designers, established galleries, new materials and collectible furniture away from the filter of social media.

More spontaneous discoveries can prove equally important.

“Sometimes it’s the simple things,” Freeman says. “That piece found on a shopping trip with a client in Paris, stumbling across an artisan’s workshop, or a special memory that forms the narrative of the story.”

Objects selected during travel bring more than visual interest into a home. They carry an association with a place, maker or experience, giving the client a connection that cannot be reproduced by ordering an entire interior from a catalogue.

Freeman’s influences are international, but his projects are not conceived as replicas of Parisian, Milanese or Californian style. Each commission responds to its architecture, setting, natural light and the daily lives of its occupants.

A waterfront Sydney residence demands a different treatment from a Mayfair townhouse. A Caribbean estate shaped by brutalist architecture and reflecting pools calls for another response again.

The designer’s role is to absorb those references without allowing them to overwhelm the individual qualities of the property.

Designing the complete experience

FREEMAN & CO extends beyond conventional interior decoration.

The practice’s stated services include interior design and architecture, project management, property acquisition, development advice, concept design, documentation, furniture and lighting design, procurement and art curation.

That breadth allows the team to become involved before a room’s dimensions and finishes are fixed.

Early participation can be important at the top end of the residential market, where architecture, landscape, interiors, technology and art must operate as one environment. Decisions about ceiling heights, wall dimensions, sightlines and lighting can directly affect where art is installed or how custom furniture is proportioned.

The practice can then carry those decisions through to procurement and final installation, maintaining the design narrative as a project moves between architects, builders, specialist craftspeople, dealers and suppliers.

Its residential portfolio includes a South Coast retreat conceived as an escape from urban life, a Caribbean estate with reflecting pools, an East Coast-inspired Palm Beach residence and a Mayfair townhouse organised around an expressive drawing room.

The studio also says it has worked on highly tailored Sydney residences with values exceeding $100 million, although the private nature of such commissions means individual addresses and clients are not always disclosed.

A home that can keep changing

The risk in creating a perfectly resolved interior is that it can become too static — a composition that looks exceptional in photographs but leaves little room for life.

Freeman sees the home as something that should evolve with its owners.

“I love the evolution of design,” he says. “We are talking about people’s lives, and as they evolve, so too should their private sanctuaries.”

That evolution might involve adding art, reupholstering a significant piece, adapting rooms as a family changes or making space for objects gathered through future travels.

The original design needs to be strong enough to accommodate those layers.

This may be the clearest expression of Freeman’s approach to luxury. It is not simply access to rare stone, collectible furniture or commissioned craftsmanship. It is the creation of a personal environment whose meaning deepens rather than diminishes with time.

Fact box

Designer: Jack Freeman

Role: Founder and managing director

Practice: FREEMAN & CO

Base: Australia, with international projects

Project locations named by the practice: Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay, Toorak, Palm Beach, the NSW South Coast, Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean

Sectors: Private residences, hotels, residential developments, private aviation and superyachts

Services: Interior design and architecture, property development, project management, property acquisition, documentation, furniture and lighting design, FF&E procurement, interior dressing and art curation

Design philosophy: Collected, personal interiors shaped by art, craftsmanship, travel and enduring materials

Website: free-man.co

THE WALDEN HITS $103 MILLION IN SALES WITHIN THREE HOURS AT NORTH SYDNEY LAUNCH

More than half of Stage One was exchanged on opening day as buyers chase harbour views, amenity and metro connectivity at 177 Walker Street.

Jack Freeman believes the most compelling interiors are not decorated, but collected. The FREEMAN & CO founder creates layered, personal spaces shaped by art, travel and craftsmanship.