Sydney apartment rooftops no longer tiles and aerials - now cinemas and pools

Massive cinema screens, pools, landscaped gardens, lounges, dining settings, BBQs, full gourmet kitchens, a glass bridge between buildings and a bar …
Where once Sydney’s apartment rooftops were a jumble of air conditioning units and lift equipment, they’re now increasingly sleek entertainment areas where residents can gather and enjoy the views – previously for penthouse dwellers’ eyes only – from the top of their worlds.

“Now, useable rooftop gardens are adding real value to occupiers in the city providing oases and relaxation spaces that people did not previously believe was achievable,” says Justin Brown, chairman of CBRE, residential projects.

“If the gardens are private and/or have iconic views, which is a rarity, they add significant value and future capital appreciation.”

So which are, and are likely to become, Sydney’s top roof spaces?

The Burcham, Rosebery

One of the four roofs over this new 99-apartment development will be a communal space with an over-sized outdoor cinema screen, seating and blue-tooth headsets for the sound so as not to disturb others. There’ll also be a sunken chill-out seating area, two BBQs and lush landscaping by celebrity gardener Jamie Durie.

“Apartments are getting smaller in the inner-city, so it’s important that people can go outside rather than entertaining at home,” says Ed Horton, director of developers The Stable Group. “We like to create spaces where people can engage as a community, and which is an extension of their private space.”

The roof gardens will also include an edible garden with herbs, spices and chillies for diners to add to their food, supplementing a larger garden downstairs. The other three roofs of the development under construction will be host to solar panels which will send power to a common grid, with the effect of lowering residents’ electricity bills by at least 20 per cent.

“Rooftops used to be industrial plant dumps but we need to plan and engage designers and architects to take rooftops into consideration,” says Horton. “With the cost and shrinking of apartment sizes and the density of living we really need to use rooftop spaces to improve the quality of living, add value and increase the sense of community in buildings.”

8 Phillip Street, Parramatta

Sydney is about to get its first apartment rooftop bar, and its highest bar, Studio 54, yes, you guessed it, 54 levels up on the rooftop of a new Woods Bagot-designed 314-apartment and 257-hotel-room building to be constructed in Parramatta.

And inspired by rooftop bars in Bangkok, New York, Shanghai and Singapore, it could well be the first of many more to come, says Coronation Property‘s development manager Aras Labutis.

“Our MD wanted to raise the bar, so to speak, and thought this was a great location, in the heart of eat street in the middle of the entertainment strip in Parramatta,” he says. “We thought this would be a perfect addition to the food and beverage offerings we’ll have on lower levels, as well as the mid-level communal area with a pool, gym, outdoor terrace and multi-purpose room.

“It’ll have pretty amazing views, and is a very exciting development.” The bar, over two levels, will be open to both residents and the public with internal and external spaces capable of accommodating 600 people, once completed in 2020. Sydney has the perfect climate for it,” says Labutis.

The Finery, Waterloo

Atop Mirvac’s new development The Finery, the roof level will have a leisure space that will include a plunge pool, outdoor kitchen with BBQ, entertaining area, sundeck for relaxing, sun loungers and day beds. Open to the sun, yet with shade cover when summer temperatures soar, it’s billed as the great Aussie backyard re-imagined.

“Inner-city apartment living has many advantages but there is no denying that it doesn’t include a private backyard that used to be so integral to the Australian dream,” says Mirvac’s general manager of design, marketing and sales, Diana Sarcasmo. “The shared rooftop allows residents to expand their horizons with the ability to play host to friends and family and entertain on a grand scale or just a small gathering for a weekend BBQ.”

The complex will have 220 apartments and terrace homes with the rooftop providing a great area for neighbours to get to know each other.  “It’s the way communities have always formed and in some respects this is easier in a close-knit vertical village as long as you provide the facilities to make it happen,” Sarcasmo says.

ONE The Waterfront, Wentworth Point

Two rooftop parks 30 metres up will actually be linked by a glass pedestrian and cycle skybridge to enable residents to walk from one to the next in this five-building 273-apartment complex by architect Frank Stanisic and developer PietvTHP (

The two sky parks will total 1,400 square metres and one will have a rooftop cinema and the other BBQ and picnic facilities. “The views from the skybridge will be spectacular, ranging from the harbour to the Olympic Stadium,” says Stanisic. “The bridge will move ever so slightly in certain weather conditions, and the experience of walking or riding a bicycle over it will be exhilarating rather than scary.”

88onRegent, Redfern

Seating, a BBQ area and stunning views to the east and south towards Moore Park and the beaches will be a major draw of this rooftop, 18 levels up over 72 apartments. “It’s an outstanding communal area with amazing views available to all the residents,” says Luke Berry, director of developers Thirdi. “The buzz words now in planning are ‘social intercourse’, and this is the kind of amenity that really promotes it.”

Young & Loftus, Circular Quay

Part of AMP Capital’s Quay Quarter Precinct, there will be a variety of spaces for residents to enjoy, from private spaces to read, areas to grab a lounger and enjoy the sun, have a BBQ, and enough room to entertain up to 50 friends. The landscaped rooftop terrace will also have spectacular views right across the harbour and Macquarie Place Park.

The Crest, Woolooware Bay

The third stage of Capital Bluestone’s major Woolooware Bay development at Cronulla will include an over-18s club on the rooftop terrace with an infinity edge pool, indoor and outdoor entertaining area, seating, a BBQ and a bar.

“The feedback we’ve been getting is that people really like to have entertaining space beyond their own apartment,” says Ian Bennett, Colliers International director. “It’s great that they can buy the cheapest one-bedroom apartment in a development but still enjoy the kind of views that you’d normally only get from a penthouse!”

Altessa 888, Gordon

Rooftop terraces will offer spectacular views across the Sydney skyline in this new nettletontribe-designed building from Aoyuan Property Group that will have 141 apartments set across three six-storey boutique buildings.

West End Residences, Glebe

To be launched in April by Singapore developer Roxy Pacific, this Turner Studio-designed building will have a rooftop terrace with gardens cascading down. “So it will look like terraced gardens,” says Ian Bennett, director of agents Colliers International.

Paragon, Pyrmont

To be launched in May, this development of 21 terraces and 11 apartments will have a communal rooftop garden and BBQ area with beautiful views towards the CBD and over the fish markets. Other parts of the roofs will be used for private gardens to go with the dwellings. “As a developer, we look at the rooftop as an option to add on amenity,” says Thirdi director Luke Berry. “We’re also looking at solar-embedded technology. It’s valuable space.”

Ramsgate Park, Kogarah

On the site of the old Darrell Lea factory, this 550-apartment complex from developer JQZ will have rooftop terraces across buildings with seating, BBQs and landscaped areas, and views across the Georges River and Botany Bay and the heads. Sales will be through Colliers International.

Norwest, Baulkham Hills

Two new 19-storey towers of 243 apartments from Capital Bluestone on the top of mixed-use commercial will have pools, spas, a cinema, a putting green and a reflection pool.

Veridian, Kogarah

There’ll be a terrace with a full kitchen, BBQ, cinema and seating on the rooftop above Capital Bluestone’s Scott Carver-designed Veridian development of two 11-storey residential towers of 220 apartments, joined by a garden, on the old RSL site.