The immediate past NSW government architect has slammed proposed changes to Barangaroo for James Packer's $1.5 billion casino resort, declaring there is a lack of balance between private gain and public benefit.
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Peter Mould, who held the position between 2006 and 2012, says the proposed modification to Barangaroo South is so significant it warrants "serious rethinking of the concept plan".
"I've always held that the public realm is as important as the private realm," he told Fairfax Media.
"We certainly need development, we certainly want people to make a profit. There's no problem with that.
"But that's got to be balanced with the protection of the public interest. And I can't see that balance here."
The modification proposal by developer Lend Lease seeks to move a hotel over the harbour in the existing concept plan back on to land following a community outcry.
Mr Packer has received permission from the state government to run a VIP-only casino in the new building and is now seeking permission for luxury private apartments in addition to hotel rooms.
The modification proposes a 275-metre height limit for Mr Packer's hotel and casino building – significantly higher than the 170-metre limit for a hotel over the harbour in the original concept plan.
A public park on the foreshore would be shifted towards the city to accommodate the complex.
Mr Mould – now an adjunct professor at the University of NSW – said the "fundamental question" about the modification was "the public benefit of such a massive building with such uses".
He said hotel rooms were now "only a small component of the building", with the bulk made up of the casino and "apartments for the very wealthy".
Mr Mould said he was concerned about the building replacing what was a public foreshore park in the original concept plan.
In the modification the park is reduced to "the space left over between buildings rather than a designed park" which creates "an ambiguity between public and private open space".
Mr Mould said positioning the building on the foreshore would draw traffic across the site.
Such a tall building at the northern end of Barangaroo also reverses the design of the original concept plan which had building heights escalating south towards the city.
"That's again a fundamental shift in the principle of city-making if you like," he said.
Mr Mould said he agreed with a City of Sydney call for the proposal to be assessed as a new concept plan, not a modification.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes has ruled this out. He has asked Mr Mould's successor as government architect, Peter Poulet, to chair a design advisory panel whose advice will be considered by the planning department.
The independent Planning Assessment Panel will determine the modification application.
