Location: Sydney, Australia.

Architect: Koichi Takada Architects.

Arc is a 26-storey mixed-use building with a distinctively arched roofscape, featuring 300,000 handcrafted bricks and 59 fins. It won the City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition in 2013 and includes 135 apartments, 86 ‘Skye Suites’ boutique hotel rooms, 8 retail and F&B outlets, and a retail precinct below an 8-storey public through site link. The design has a heavy masonry character at the base, whereas the tower above has finer, lighter materiality. Arc is a high-rise residential design that celebrates Sydney’s outdoor lifestyle and uses the roof for public amenities instead of private apartments. It is inspired by the masonry component in the Red Cross Building and Andrew Bros Warehouse and draws from their characteristic arches. The curved roof arches connect you with the organic and undulating lines of Sydney Harbour and its best natural assets.