First Look: Arada unveils 39-storey mixed-use tower for Campsie town centre in State Significant Development bid

Campsie’s town centre could gain a new vertical landmark under plans by Arada for a 39-storey mixed-use tower that would reshape a key stretch of Beamish Street. 

Lodged as a State Significant Development, the project would intensify a masterplan-identified site with apartments, commercial space, and new public realm improvements.

Designed by Woods Bagot, with Hatch preparing the Urban Design Justification Report, the development, dubbed One Campsie, would comprise a 39-storey mixed-use building rising above a two-storey podium. The podium would accommodate retail and commercial tenancies fronting Beamish Street, with residential apartments above and four levels of basement parking.

According to the Woods Bagot Architectural Design Report, the tower is conceived as “a 39-storey mixed-use tower” that seeks to “redefine the urban experience of a rapidly transforming town centre,” delivering housing above an activated ground plane that integrates civic and commercial uses. The design adopts a three-part vertical composition, stepping and articulating the tower to reduce visual bulk and respond to its varied urban interfaces.

At street level, the scheme places significant emphasis on public domain upgrades. A new civic plaza is proposed opposite the Orion Theatre, alongside a landscaped pocket park and a through-site pedestrian link connecting Beamish Street to Campsie Street and Ninth Avenue. The Urban Design Justification Report states that the proposal “builds on Council’s Master Plan by applying a place-led urban design framework that responds to the site’s unique conditions and enhances pedestrian experience and public benefit.”

The documents note that the development aligns with the Master Plan’s intensification strategy for sites within walking distance of the Metro station, while seeking to retain solar access to key public spaces. As outlined in the Urban Design Report, the proposal delivers “intensification within walking distance of the Metro Station while retaining solar access to key parks,” and aligns with nine of the 11 identified spatial moves within the Master Plan framework.

A reinterpreted laneway is also central to the concept. Rather than a purely service-oriented corridor, the design introduces landscaping, controlled vehicle access, and active frontages to create a safer, more permeable pedestrian environment.

Above the podium, the residential component would deliver a substantial number of apartments, including a proportion of affordable housing in line with State planning requirements for SSD projects in well-located centres. The tower’s upper levels incorporate communal open spaces, rooftop amenities, and landscaped terraces intended to provide residents with access to light, air, and district views.

Woods Bagot’s design narrative also draws on local history and Aboriginal cultural context. The Architectural Design Report references engagement with Wangal Country and the Cooks River landscape, seeking to embed a connection to Country through material selection, planting, and public art integration. The broader vision, as described in the report, is to create a building that functions as a “community catalyst, not only as a place to live, but as a vibrant destination for work and play that brings people together, supports local culture, and contributes meaningfully to the civic identity of Campsie.”

Located at 124–142 Beamish Street and 16–18 Ninth Avenue, the site occupies a key stretch of Beamish Street, Campsie’s traditional high street, characterised by fine-grain retail, multicultural dining, and proximity to civic infrastructure including the Orion Theatre and Canterbury Civic Centre. The proposed civic plaza and pocket park aim to strengthen this interface, formalising connections between retail frontages, public transport, and community facilities.

If approved, One Campsie would mark one of the tallest and most ambitious additions to the suburb’s skyline, reflecting the broader shift toward higher-density living around transport nodes in Sydney’s middle-ring centres.