The Mosaic Tower is a 14 Storey mixed use residential/commercial building designed by Tony Owen Partners. It consists of a 4 storey retail/commercial podium with 37 units above. The site is located in Sydney’s Sussex Street. This precinct is the home of historic masonry warehouse buildings. The rule in heritage infill is typically to not attract too much attention. The constrained site is overshadowed by surrounding larger buildings. This presents a challenge for a residential building to access solar amenity. We used parametric modelling to solve this problem. Each portion of the façade receives sun at different times of the day. We conducted studies of the angles and direction of the sun at different times, even reflected light.

Photography: John Gollings