Radio broadcaster Ray Hadley bought his new apartment in the unusually shaped block called Lacebark in Sydney’s north-west overlooking his golf club because it was “convenient, and across the road from the hospital”.
Downsizing from a town house in the next suburb, Hadley told Lacebark’s architect William Smart on Monday that he hadn’t thought much about its design until he moved in a month ago.
Meeting Smart over coffee, the former morning radio host with a view on everything, said Lacebark was the “most unique – yet functional – building” he had ever seen.
“I’d be astounded if it didn’t win all the awards because it looks like the Opera House with all the curves,” he said.
His prediction was spot on. Lacebark, in the town centre of the growing Norwest Quarter precinct, designed by Smart Design Studio, is one of two NSW multi-residential projects out of six nationally to be shortlisted today for the 2026 Australian Institute of Architects’ national architecture awards.
It won NSW’s highest award for multi-residential housing, the Aaron Bolot Award and won the Urban Taskforce Development Excellence Awards 2026 for a mixed development. It is now shortlisted for other awards.
“This will be a landmark long after I’ve gone,” said Hadley, who retired from 2GB two years ago after 43 years. As someone who has bought and sold a range of properties, and reported on current affairs and politics, Hadley understands zoning, state regulations, and can talk square metres size, and price points with the best.
Clad in a white brick, Lacebark is divided into sculptural wings.
It was shaped by the need to reduce the worst of summer heat in Sydney’s north-west where it can be at least six degrees hotter than coastal suburbs, make the most of the winter sun in much colder winters, and provide private and generous sized balconies with brick balustrades.
Sydney architect Chi Melhem, director of EM BE CE and a member of the NSW jury, said what made Lacebark exceptional was that architecture, sustainability and livability were inseparable. “The same design moves that give the building its distinctive identity also improve solar access, privacy, durability, ventilation and comfort,” she said.
Melhem said Smart’s design had resulted in some unusual spaces – including circular walls in Hadley’s apartment.
Privacy is important for someone like Hadley who is recognised and greeted like a long-lost friend, and who seems to know every tradie in the suburb.
He recalled living in a block on the Gold Coast where neighbours in an identical building next door could be seen walking around naked in the bathroom because the glass was clear.
In contrast, his wife Sophie said the privacy at Lacebark was excellent. It is one of a few blocks built or being developed by Mulpha Norwest.
Glass balconies have been the default option in public and private apartments in Australia for nearly 40 years. They look good on renders, but once completed, they fill with junk and provide little privacy, or shade or insulation.
Smart, the founder of Smart Design Studio, has been on a mission to replace them with brick. Standing on a busy Sydney street recently with other architects, he pointed at balconies cluttered with “a dog kennel, the sides of so many beds, lots and lots of washing, a few dead plants, barbecues, bikes pushed together, and washing lines.”
“This is exactly why you shouldn’t be doing glass balconies,” he was telling them when nearby pedestrians started giggling. Smart said: “We looked up and could see a couple of people shagging.”
Other winners of this year’s awards for new apartments, including those providing affordable and public housing, have ditched glass balconies, or opted for opaque glass.
Hallelujah, said former state architect Peter Poulet. At last, said others.
Piling junk on a balcony is something that people of all incomes do. Yet, there is more stigma for those on lower incomes.
Architect Dan Szwaj, a director of Turner, said they often used solid balustrades with a glass panel at the top in affordable housing projects. It provides privacy up to the waist, and light and ventilation above. “There’s dignity about having your own space and not being judged on how you look after it.”
Professor Philip Oldfield, head of built environment in the architecture faculty at UNSW, said the first ‘all glass’ apartments were built in Chicago in 1951, so the shift was “not before time”.
“We’re finally waking up to the failings of having highly transparent buildings – no shade, lack of privacy,” said Oldfield. He was a fan of modern Iranian apartments (which resemble Lacebark’s). Glass balconies could influence strata rules, he said, which often ban balconies from being used to dry clothes.
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