With the redevelopment of the Waterloo South public housing estate redevelopment attracting a lot of attention in recent years (including in this pre-election ABC News item in 2023,), residents within the Waterloo North precinct anxiously await what the NSW Government will eventually propose for its future.   

As far back as 2007, there has been public discussion about the fate of the 30-storey Matavai and Turanga towers (and their communities); with the main argument being this – demolish or refurbish? While a plan for demolishment was announced in 2015, there has been little active planning and certainly no public feasibility conducted to test the viability of refurbishing and upgrading the buildings.  

OFFICE – the Melbourne-based non-profit design and research practice – is developing a Retain, Repair, Reinvest strategy for Waterloo North, thanks to an Innovation and Ideas Grant from the City of Sydney. This strategy will present an alternative to demolition: one that retains existing communities by not relocating residents, repairs existing buildings to reduce carbon emissions, and reinvests savings to improve comfort and upgrade public housing. This follows two previous Retain, Repair, Reinvest strategies for Melbourne’s Ascot Vale and Barak Beacon estates.  

The team is seeking community input, with a barbeque planned for 1PM on Saturday November 2nd on Waterloo Green. The purpose of the event is to understand what residents like about living at Waterloo and what could be improved about their homes from an architectural and design perspective, before OFFICE starts working on the design and costings. There will be another opportunity for feedback in December and more events in 2025. 

Alex Jones, Eddie Ma (Shelter NSW member) and Alistair Sisson are working with OFFICE on the project. You can contact Alistair for more info via Alistair.sisson@mq.edu.au.