Building
81 Yarranabbe
The eight-residence harbourside development on the assembled 77–81 Yarranabbe Road site.
81 Yarranabbe is the building that the assembled 77–81 Yarranabbe Road site was put together to make: eight private residences on the northern face of the Darling Point peninsula, with architecture by Tzannes, interiors by the London studio Banda, and gardens by Spirit Level.
81 Yarranabbe is the development now being progressed on the consolidated waterfront site at 77–81 Yarranabbe Road, on the northern shore of the Darling Point peninsula. Where the street page records the site as an assembly, this is the building the assembly was for: eight private residences, five storeys above a shared basement, set on roughly forty-five metres of absolute harbour frontage. It is among the largest single residential schemes the peninsula has seen in a generation, and the first to carry its own name into the market.
How the site came together
The land is three separately-titled waterfront parcels brought into single ownership over more than two decades. The Roth family, through their private investment company Henroth, acquired the adjoining holdings in stages, completing the assembly in 2023 — by which point 77–81 Yarranabbe Road was the largest contiguous harbourfront development parcel in single hands on the northern face of the peninsula. The parcels carried two houses and a small apartment block between them, all of which the approved scheme replaces.
The path through planning was not short. An earlier redevelopment proposal for the land was refused by Woollahra Council, and an appeal against that refusal was dismissed by the Land and Environment Court in 2014. The scheme that now holds consent took a comparable route through refusal and appeal a decade later; the public record of how it was assessed is set out below.
Development history
There was a long history in 81 Yarranabbe's development, with several major issues. Major ones include:
- 1 — Proposed building height exceeded the permitted limit
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Source: judgment [2024] NSWLEC 1613, at [14], under the subheading "The height standard is exceeded".
"The height standard applicable to the site under cl 4.3 of the WLEP is 10.5m. The Applicant states, in the written request prepared by GSA Planning dated December 2023, that the proposed development has a maximum height of 17m... As such, the proposed development exceeds the height standard."
- 2 — Proposed floor space ratio exceeded the permitted standard
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Source: judgment [2024] NSWLEC 1613, at [33], under the subheading "The Floor Space Ratio is exceeded".
"The Floor Space Ratio standard applicable to the site under cl 4.4 of the WLEP is 0.9:1. The Applicant states, in a written request prepared by GSA Planning dated December 2023... that the proposed development has a FSR of 1.26:1. As such, the proposed development exceeds the FSR standard."
- 3 — Proposed excavation exceeded the benchmark volume
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Source: Statement of Environmental Effects, section 4.6.3, "Excavation Volume".
"The maximum excavation volume for residential flat buildings on this site is 2,494m³, with an additional 1,610m³ for compliant storage, parking and access to parking under Control C4... The total excavation volume proposed for the site is 6,086m³." — "The excavation volume would result in an excavation to site ratio of 2.44:1."
- 4 — Twenty-eight submissions objected to the development
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Source: Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel, Record of Briefing, 2 May 2024.
"28 submissions received, objecting to development."
- 5 — Tree removal flagged as excessive, replacement limited
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Source: Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel, Record of Briefing, 2 May 2024.
"Tree removal and tree canopy – excessive removal and limited replacement proposed, noting tree canopy requirements in Council's DCP."
The building
The approved building is eight residences over five storeys, served by a basement of eighteen car spaces. Each residence is entered privately from the parking level, with direct lift access, so that the arrangement reads less as an apartment block than as a short stack of houses. Shared amenity is concentrated at the water: a twenty-five metre heated lap pool along the harbour edge, a private jetty, and a wellness retreat with gym, sauna and steam room. An on-site concierge serves the eight households. The published price guide for the residences has been reported in the trade press in a range from the high thirties to the low eighties of millions of dollars.
The design team
Architecture is by Tzannes, the Sydney practice, working the scheme to the constraints of a steeply-falling harbour site. Interiors and the overall design direction are by Banda, the London studio founded by Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi; 81 Yarranabbe is the studio's first project in Sydney. Banda's stated approach for the site leans on rare materials and craftsmanship — bronzes, marbles and timbers chosen to hold the changing light of the harbour. The gardens are by Spirit Level, whose planting carries the landscape from the street frontage down through the site to the seawall.
Where it sits on the peninsula
81 Yarranabbe takes a position on Yarranabbe Road that the road has held in reserve, in a sense, since the 1833 subdivision: a large waterfront holding, slowly assembled, redeveloped once in a long while by a single owner with a generational horizon. It belongs to the same line of address as Yarranabbe House at the foot of the road and Glenhurst Gardens a little along it — the same shoreline chain, the same pattern of large parcels rebuilt rarely and held long. Like most of what changes hands on this road, the residences are expected to trade quietly, between known parties, well away from the public portals.
81 Yarranabbe — common questions
- Where is 81 Yarranabbe?
- 81 Yarranabbe occupies the assembled site at 77–81 Yarranabbe Road, Darling Point, NSW 2027 — a waterfront parcel on the northern face of the Darling Point peninsula, with about forty-five metres of absolute harbour frontage.
- How many residences does 81 Yarranabbe have?
- Eight. The consented scheme is eight private residences across five levels, above a basement of eighteen car spaces, with each residence entered privately and reached by direct lift.
- Who is developing 81 Yarranabbe?
- The developer is Henroth, the private investment company of the Roth family, which assembled the three waterfront lots by 2023. The development application was lodged under the name Yarranabbe Ventures.
- Who designed 81 Yarranabbe?
- Architecture is by Tzannes; interiors and the overall design direction are by Banda, the London studio of Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, in its first Sydney project; the gardens are by Spirit Level.
- What amenities will 81 Yarranabbe have?
- A twenty-five metre heated lap pool along the harbour edge, a private jetty, a wellness retreat with gym, sauna and steam room, landscaped gardens by Spirit Level, and an on-site concierge.
- What were the major issues in 81 Yarranabbe's development?
- Five run through the planning record: the proposed building height of 17 m exceeded the 10.5 m limit; the floor space ratio of 1.26:1 exceeded the 0.9:1 standard; the proposed excavation of 6,086 m³ exceeded the 2,494 m³ benchmark; 28 submissions objected to the development; and tree removal was flagged as excessive, with limited replacement. Each is set out, with its source, in the Development history section above.