The New South Wales Government has announced AKIN as the winning design team in its Barangaroo Harbour Park Design Competition, a project that will transform a prime stretch of Sydney’s waterfront into vital open space.

AKIN is a First Nations-led and Sydney-based team made up of Yerrabingin, Architectus, Flying Fish Blue, Jacob Nash Design, and Studio Chris Fox, with Arup as engineering consultants.

Working alongside Infrastructure NSW, AKIN is set to reshape 1.85 hectares of reclaimed land in the heart of Central Barangaroo, the last section of the broader 22-hectare precinct to be developed. 

Served by a new Sydney Metro station, ferry wharves, and pedestrian links, the new landscape will host public events and entertainment, while shops, restaurants, apartments, and offices will emerge around its edges.

AKIN’s Country-led design is deeply rooted in this rich heritage, weaving together the threads of landscape, art, and architecture to create a place of connection, reconciliation, and regeneration.

Jake Nash and Chris Fox have envisioned three major public artworks responding to Country. 

“The three significant First Nations led artworks will not be static – they will be deeply engaged with the Country that they reside upon. They will be brought to life through an interplay with nature and the seasons and established as sites for gathering. They will function as living cultural objects within the city of Sydney to be loved and appreciated by local residents, visitors, and the world, for generations to come.”

Referred to as ‘vessels’ by AKIN, the elements each have special significance in Indigenous knowledge systems.

Suspended in the windiest corner of the park, the wind vessel will symbolically ‘collect’ the people who pass through it. It will give a ‘voice’ to whispering winds coming into Barangaroo from the west each morning, sharing stories, songs and language with all the park’s visitors.

Featuring an oculus and a reflective, lined underside echoing tidal lines in the Harbour, the elevated moon vessel will capture the movement of the moon across the sky. The west-facing site is a landscape of longing that never sees a dawn – an ever-present reminder of time as the sun and moon are always transiting away from this place.

The water vessel will form a connection point to the Harbour and a place for gathering and ceremony. Constructed from timber, it will reference pre-settlement campfires that burned along the Harbour as well as Sydney’s shared contemporary history. The piece will also frame Me-Mel Island (Goat Island), a physical and cultural landmark for Traditional Custodians.

In addition to the public artwork the park will provide open space for up to 6,000 people to gather, with benches, paths, a kiosk, and other amenities adding to the park’s diverse appeal.

Yerrabingin founder and CEO, Christian Hampson said: "We are honoured to be part of such a defining public project, and also humbled to be given the permission to dream. For us, this is much more than a park – it's a place to celebrate an enduring culture and to move with Country, acknowledging and experiencing our collective past and present while dreaming of our future.”

“Our design is a new chapter connected to the most ancient of stories, carved in the sandstone of Sydney: the story of Country and of us, its people. We hope this new chapter inspires all our young people, fanning the embers inside them into a fire as the future artists, architects, designers, and engineers of our cities and our nation.”