First look: Ryser plans two apartment buildings on Woollahra, Bondi Junction border
Boutique development and construction firm Ryser has filed plans for its debut apartment building.
Ryser, founded by Jonthan Ryan and Wil Prosser, has sought to develop Sorelle, 28 new apartments at 4a Fern Place, Woollahra.
The 750 sqm site on the edge of Bondi Junction falls within the Grafton Precinct Heritage Conservation Area, though it is currently vacant and not identified as a contributory item.
Woods Bagot has been commissioned to design Sorelle, creating an eight and a nine-storey building with six apartments dedicated to affordable housing to support essential workers under the NSW Government’s low and mid-rise housing policy.
The dwelling mix includes 12 one-bedroom units, six one-bedroom affordable units, six two-bedroom units, and four three-bedroom residences.
According to the planning documents submitted to the Woollahra Council, the development responds to the complex interface of heritage fabric and urban infrastructure with two mid-rise residential buildings oriented to the north and designed to capitalise on sweeping views over Sydney Harbour and Bellevue Hill.
“The proposal aims to hero some of the brick detailing of Woollahra, celebrating the existing datums of Fern Place, whilst embracing the strong verticals of the Holy Cross Church and Bondi Junction with a nod to the historic iron works and iron rich soils of the area,” Woods Bagot noted in their Design Report.
Only three car parking spaces are proposed, alongside 33 bicycle bays, in a move that leverages the site's proximity to Bondi Junction train station, just 400 metres away.
Architecturally, the material palette incorporates Corten steel and face brickwork to reference the site’s industrial past and local geological character. Landscaping features include a communal garden bridging the two buildings at ground level, landscaped setbacks to protect visual privacy, and a small corner park intended to soften the public interface.
Ryser said Sorelle "brings together the best of both worlds, the intimacy of village life with the amenity and luxury of modern design."
The developer said the project marks the first of three developments they will be announcing shortly, a key step in their evolution as a builder-developer delivering meaningful, high quality urban outcomes across Sydney.
The expectation is the Woollahra LGA will become popular for developers with the signal from the NSW Government they will deliver Sydney’s first new heavy rail station in more than a decade – enabling up to 10,000 new homes by rezoning land around Woollahra and Edgecliff stations.
Read more: Next stop Woollahra train station - delivering up to 10,000 new homes in the heart of Sydney
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is the Editor in Chief at Apartments.com.au, where he leads the editorial team and oversees the country’s most comprehensive news coverage dedicated to the off the plan property market. With more than a decade of experience in residential real estate journalism, Joel brings deep insight into Australia’s evolving development landscape.
He holds a degree in Business Management with a major in Journalism from Leeds Beckett University in the UK, and has developed a particular expertise in off the plan apartment space. Joel’s editorial lens spans the full lifecycle of a project—from site acquisition and planning approvals through to new launches, construction completions, and final sell-out—delivering trusted, buyer-focused content that supports informed decision-making across the property journey
