Human-centred design meets luxury living
Light plays an important role in our everyday lives, influencing not just how we see but also how we feel. Beyond its obvious visual benefits, light regulates the human circadian rhythm, our internal body clock that manages sleep, energy and emotional wellbeing.
The architects of One Sydney Harbour had this front of mind when they designed the three towers that comprise One Sydney Harbour. Renzo Piano Building Workshop focused on human-centred architectural design, ensuring that all of their choices prioritised resident wellness and sustainability.
With a deep understanding of the relationship between natural light in buildings and human health, the Renzo Piano team created a facade aimed at enhancing wellbeing, promoting alertness during the day, and supporting restful sleep at night.
Adam Guernier, Principal of Guernier Architecture and the Australian representative of Renzo Piano Building Workshop, played a key role in shaping the human-centred design of One Sydney Harbour. Having worked on the project for nearly a decade, he led the Australian team to contextualise Renzo Piano’s timeless and coherent design ethos in the local environment.
In this article, Adam shares insights into the wellness-focused design process for One Sydney Harbour.
The human sleep-wake cycle, our bodies’ circadian rhythm, is significantly affected by the visible spectrum of light, how it is distributed and its intensity. Because many of us spend a lot of time indoors, the quality of light we receive depends on architectural features like building orientation, window size and glass quality, and interior design materials.
But for most people living and working in our cities’ buildings, their experience of light is compromised.
But letting in all that light also invites heat. Many buildings counter this by applying so-called low-e coatings on their glass to reflect infrared radiation. These coatings act like sunglasses, says Adam, cutting down on heat and glare. “But it has a cost. A significant consequence is spectral occlusion, where certain visible light waves are excluded or reflected and don’t pass into the building.
“If you’ve ever been in a hotel room, you might notice this. It’s a sort of dimness that renders light within the rooms in a particular way. It may affect your perception of contrast and clarity, interfere with your circadian rhythms and affect your mood and wellbeing.”
This presented the One Sydney Harbour team with a challenge: how to maximise natural light in a building while still ensuring comfort and energy efficiency.
“Our brief was to include floor-to-ceiling glass,” says Adam. “There is an experiential benefit to enhancing the views that are available from the site. It’s quite extraordinary up in these apartments — you can see all the way out to Sydney Heads.”
But a human-centred design approach meant conventional commercial glass wasn’t the right solution. So, the team developed an innovative triple-layered glass system to maintain transparency while preventing heat and glare, ensuring residents benefit from the full visible spectrum of light.
Renzo Piano Building Workshop is known for its ‘complete light spectrum’ approach. This methodology ensures that natural light is not just an aesthetic feature but a cornerstone of living well.
Glass is a defining feature of One Sydney Harbour, so developing a custom glazing system was critical to the project’s success. Adam explains: “One of the biggest challenges was achieving transparency without excessive heat ingress.
“It took a lot of iteration, but we developed a triple-layered glass system that maximises natural light without spectral occlusion, which means residents experience the full light system. The glass includes a double-glazed unit and an external laminate of glass.
“We’ve all been in tall towers that are hermetically sealed, relying on mechanical ventilation to breathe,” Adam adds. “We didn’t want that for One Sydney Harbour. Here, residents are able to control airflow, experience natural ventilation and connect with the outdoors.”
Lendlease values this deep attention to detail and quality, which is evident in our strong partnership with Renzo Piano Building Workshop. This collaboration is pivotal, as it combines our expertise in high-quality construction with the Renzo Piano team’s innovative architectural designs to create spaces where communities thrive.
Acoustics plays a crucial role in the atmosphere of living spaces. Unfortunately, many high-rise buildings are so tightly sealed that they become acoustically sterile, cutting occupants off from the natural sounds that surround them.
The One Sydney Harbour architectural team carefully considered human-centred design principles in relation to the building’s acoustics, ensuring indoor spaces remained peaceful while preserving a sensory link to the outdoors. High-performance glazing and soundproofing shield residents from unwanted noise; however, natural sounds from the harbour are able to filter inside.
“The experiential quality of the acoustic connection with the outdoors is often overlooked in building design,” says Adam. “In One Sydney Harbour, even if you’re 200 metres up, you still feel part of the city rather than being completely separated from it.”
The architectural innovations at One Sydney Harbour are deeply rooted in human-centred design principles. “The building facade provides depth, simplicity and elegance while ensuring that light, airflow and sound all contribute to a sense of wellbeing,” says Adam.
From maximising natural light in buildings and optimising airflow to integrating thoughtful acoustic design, every detail reflects the architectural team’s commitment to creating enriching living spaces. These designs foster a strong connection to the natural surrounds and also exemplify Lendlease’s dedication to sustainable, wellness-oriented living.
Discover the refined luxury of One Sydney Harbour and explore these exceptional apartments today. For luxury off-the-plan apartments in Sydney and Melbourne, visit our website.