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A profile interview with architect Adam Haddow to showcase the launch of Waterfall – the latest luxury Crown development. Targeting affluent investors and high end individuals.
Crown Group: Chasing waterfalls with Adam Haddow
An elevated magazine interview with esteemed architect Adam Haddow. Taking a deep dive into the vision for Waterfall, this piece examines the story and influences behind the design – and what the building represents today and for the future.
The copy: Chasing Waterfalls
COMMITTED TO DELIVERING HIGH- DENSITY SOLUTIONS THAT CHARACTERISE THE HISTORY OF THE LAND AND SURROUNDS, ADAM HADDOW IS NO ORDINARY ARCHITECT. IT’S NO SURPRISE HE WAS ASKED TO PARTNER ON SYDNEY’S LANDMARK NEW LUXURY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, WATERFALL BY CROWN GROUP. JAEL LIVINGSTON REPORTS.
With over 20 years of experience in the business, renowned SJB architect Adam Haddow is no stranger to tall orders. When Crown Group CEO Iwan Sunito asked him to think bigger than ever before—to evoke the tropical sounds from Sunito’s Indonesian homeland, and come up with an idea so inspired that it would introduce a raw element of nature back into the city of Sydney—it was a challenge Haddow could not refuse.
Growing up in the bush in country Victoria, Haddow has always had a strong affinity with the natural environs—an aspect of his life that drives his vision today and is the primal essence behind his design considerations. This idyllic and carefree childhood instilled an unfailing respect for Australia’s Indigenous heritage, inspiring him to utilise the country’s unique history and relationship with the land as a device to reinterpret landscapes within a contemporary sense. Such a holistic approach is integral to Haddow’s work and forms the blueprint behind each project.
“South Sydney used to be all wetlands, paper bark trees and low-lying forests,” he says. “We’re never going to get that back again, but how can we get those qualities back into a project? How can we get water back onto the site in a contemporary sense?” With the history of Waterloo so embedded with water and natural properties, combined with the growing human need for respite from modern living demands, Waterfall was conceived.
Waterfall is nothing if not ambitious: an inner-city development that promises a return to nature, bringing peace, calm and tranquility. Located in the heart of Waterloo’s burgeoning creative hub—and recent recipient of AU$8 billion in public funding which will regenerate and reinvigorate the entire suburb—the project harnesses the natural restorative properties of water and vegetation as a welcome juxtaposition to modern city living. Haddow’s visionary design showcases water cascading down a 20-storey building, promising to transport residents far away from the urban grime to the lush rainforests of Indonesia.
This notion of retreat and restoration was key to the project’s development. “Cities are exhausting!” Haddow laughs. “It’s only when I go back to the bush I realise how cleansing it is.”
It’s no coincidence there has been a surge in mindfulness-based activities over the past decade as society struggles to balance the mental and physical demands of the corporate world. The lines between work and home are increasingly blurred. Haddow’s personal coping mechanisms come in the form of escape— whether it’s exploring a hidden pathway amongst the city streets en route to a meeting, or wandering through Sydney’s national parks with his dog, Eric.
“We live in such a remarkable city—there is hustle and bustle, but there is also quiet and calmness to be found,” he says. “My favourite run is the Spit to Manly walk. It’s hilly and long, but it takes in the incredible beauty of the harbour and our national parks. It is completely blissful.”
Haddow’s use of water as a central image is a clear recognition of our need for escape, an opportunity to break out of the rat race and return to the very source of life. He believes water brings a calming simplicity and purity to a world of what seems like uncontrolled chaos. It marks a return to the natural order, the perfect antithesis to the daily grind. This strong affiliation with the natural world follows through in many more of Haddow’s key design elements. Light and space are dominant qualities that permeate the multiple living spaces, with much of the development open to the elements and naturally ventilated. For the architect, this playful aspect was crucial and remains one of his favourite aspects of the build. ▶
“We want to trick you,” he says. “Are you inside or outside? We want you to feel the day, to engage with the environment.” In fact, one of the greatest benefits of the waterfall, Haddow explains, is that: “by drowning out the city hum, the water becomes the background noise itself— and in doing so, it enables you to focus simply on the foreground of your life. It allows us to live in a daily routine that is not difficult.”
Haddow’s team at SJB works with a rigorous mantra of three: beauty, joy and delight. All three vectors must converge with every installation for it to be considered a success. Developments are consistently viewed with occupancy and longevity in mind; there is never a sense that the purpose has been lost in design-speak.
Collaboration is clearly another key work ethic, whether that’s sharing ideas with other stakeholders in the project, or extensive consideration for communities around. This notion of community as a collective is certainly borne out within Waterfall, with a plethora of communal spaces available from the rooftop gardens to the swimming pool, gym and music room. Unusually for an architect, Haddow speaks freely of deliberately allowing a generosity of space at Waterfall, of incorporating non-functional areas that contribute to the overall living experience.
The building itself should not be considered the highlight, he says, but rather: “I want the experience of moving through the building to be the thing people remember.”
Haddow recognises his contribution to city landscapes as a privilege—not only as a means of influencing the culture of the city but as a contributor to the theatre of public life. Developing Waterfall alongside Iwan Sunito and artist Mika Utzon Popov was an organic and collaborative process from the outset: “It’s always easy working with friends.”
Haddow’s affiliation with the history of the land in conjunction with Sunito’s design brief has proven to be a natural pairing; the original idea of bringing an environmental experience to the development that had origins in the rainforests of Indonesia could only truly and honestly be realised in an area where water had once naturally abounded. “We’ll only do projects
that could exist where they’re built,” confirms Haddow. “This is one of them.”
HADDOW’S GOLDEN RULES
- Understand the local culture “Modern architecture is not only about understanding the global context—it’s about the small scale of locality and the community we’re designing for.”
- Imagine how the space will be lived in
“It’s about giving an opportunity to the lives, hopes and ambitions of the people who live in the city. It’s important for us to see people living there.” - Relish the chance to stretch creativity
“The world is too full of small thinkers. Like Waterfall, the best projects ask you to think bigger than you’ve thought before, and challenge you to do something remarkable.” - Embed artistry with architecture “Buildings contribute to culture. So it’s important to think of any synergy between art and architecture as informing the cultural future of the city for the next 100 years.”
