5 Sam Sing Street

Tower Trio

Completed in 2017 for developer JQZ, the Sam Sing Street project is a mixed-use residential development located in Waterloo, integrating high- and mid-rise living with vibrant ground-level activation and extensive communal green space.

The project comprises a 20-storey apartment tower and two four-storey mixed-use buildings, accommodating a diverse range of residential typologies alongside three retail tenancies facing Archibald Avenue.

The project introduces a new urban residential typology: the garden tower. This concept challenges conventional high-density models by embedding nature at all levels of the building, enhancing liveability, microclimate, and resident well-being.

The tower is expressed as two vertically stacked volumes—north and south—connected by a series of open-air landscaped lobbies running east-west across the plan. These transitional spaces act as communal sky terraces, bringing daylight, natural ventilation, and biophilic design into the core of the building. Every fourth floor, these lobbies expand into dramatic 12-metre-high sky gardens—alternating between the eastern and western facades—to offer varied landscape experiences, microclimates, and panoramic views across the city. Each sky garden includes mature plantings and resident amenity areas, encouraging informal interaction and community.

Further enhancing its environmental performance and sense of sanctuary, the building incorporates extensive green roof treatments across both tower and low-rise elements. These spaces include an urban farm producing fruit, vegetables, and herbs for residents, an outdoor kitchen, and shaded recreation zones designed for families and social gatherings.

At ground level, the tower is entered via a semi-covered rainforest garden that leads to a glazed lobby framing views into a communal courtyard planted as a native paperbark forest—offering an immediate sense of retreat and immersion in landscape.

The architectural language of the tower is defined by the deep voids of the gardens and a high-performance façade system. External sun shading in perforated aluminium mesh—rendered in a palette of natural green tones—wraps the building. These screens vary in orientation, creating a dynamic, kinetic effect as sunlight moves across the façade, softening the building’s scale and providing passive solar control, privacy, and filtered daylight.

The low-rise buildings address Hatbox Place and Archibald Avenue with distinct architectural identities. The Hatbox Place elevation features a crisp white glazed brick façade and accommodates a row of double-height stacked terrace homes. All three courtyard-facing structures are unified by bronze-toned perforated aluminium screening, providing sun shading, privacy, and a play of light and shadow across the building’s surface.

A variety of apartment types are offered across the development, including multi-level terraces, townhouses, and a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments—ensuring a diverse residential community.

In recognition of its design excellence and contribution to medium-density housing, the Hatbox Place component of the project was selected by the NSW Government Architect in 2024 for inclusion in the Housing Map—a curated survey of 100 exemplary mid-scale residential developments across the state

Details

Client
JQZ
Builder
Concourse Constructions
Collaborating Architect
Environa
Geotechnical
SMEC
Structure
ABC Consultants
Services
Northrop
Wind
Windtech
Urban Planner
Urbis
Stormwater and Flood
C&M Consulting Engineers
Waste management
Elephants Foot
Landscape
Clouston
Basix
GAT Associates
Traffic
Colston, Budd, Hunt. and Kafes
BCA
Dix Gardener
QS
Newton Fischer
Photographer
Richard Glover, Peter Bennetts

Awards

2015

Deluxe Colour Awards- National winner commercial category