Westfield to furnish Sydney streets with wide format wrap

The retail giant submitted its proposal to the Sydney Council in December last year, which will entail the linking of its Centrepoint, Imperial Arcade and Skygarden properties together with the construction of a 27-storey office tower.

If the go ahead is given by the council, the Westfield Group plans to convert the wooden hoardings that typically mask the construction site into a giant advertising billboard up to four storeys high. The extended parade of ads will be wrapped around the streets surrounding Westfield's Pitt Street properties, and be in place over a two-year period while construction is completed.

(Right: an example of what the proposed wide-format wrap could potentially look like)

Julia Clark, corporate affairs manager at Westfield, claims the wide-format display will shield the surrounding streets from the dust and noise of the construction activities, as well as providing an attractive visual screen.

“The design and appearance of the hoardings will take a lead from international examples such as those in New York and LA and will ensure that the visual quality of the nearby streets is maintained,” says Clark.

“We believe this type of hoarding is new to Sydney, and it's time for our construction sites to be as attractively wrapped as those in any other international cities,” she says.

The hoardings will feature a high-quality graphic skin that will be applied to a structural steel frame and timber panels, which Westfield claims will have a narrow design so to have a minimal impact on footpath space.

If the Westfield Group gains approval for its proposed $600 million redevelopment plans, it must secure further council approval to make its wide-format visions a reality, with City of Sydney policy stating that construction sites must not be used for advertising without council consent.

However, it is likely that any such initiative will be well received by the council, with a spokesperson for City of Sydney claiming it would welcome any innovative solutions that would obscure unsightly views of demolition and construction works from the public domain.