Nearly two decades in the making, the Rhodes Central Precinct demonstrates how deliberate, staged development can reshape former industrial land into a thriving urban village. Developer Billbergia and architecture firm SJB have just completed Stage Two of the $3 billion masterplan, delivering the landmark Rhodes Recreation Centre alongside the Oasis and Peake residential towers—670 apartments that add to the precinct’s growing residential community.

What sets Rhodes Central apart is its commitment to embedding social infrastructure directly into the development fabric. The Recreation Centre, which opened in November 2025, was delivered through a Voluntary Planning Agreement between Billbergia and the City of Canada Bay Council. This collaborative approach has created genuine community facilities: a gymnasium, indoor sports courts, fitness facilities, flexible community rooms and childcare services—all positioned steps from Rhodes train station.

“The Recreation Centre is the product of true collaboration between developer, architect and council—a model where social infrastructure is embedded, not bolted on,” says SJB Partner and Master Plan Lead John Pradel.

Stage One, completed in 2022, established the precinct’s foundations with 550 apartments above a 12,000-square-metre retail centre and commercial spaces. The design prioritised permeability and public realm, introducing key pedestrian connections between Walker and Marquet Streets and a landscaped plaza that serves as the precinct’s civic heart. A rooftop heliostat even redirects sunlight into the Mary Street public space, minimising overshadowing.

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Stage Three, now in planning, will complete the precinct with Cascade—a 39-level tower delivering 360 dwellings, including affordable and multi-generational housing. The design, which SJB won through a design excellence competition, will add over 2,000-square-metres of publicly accessible open space, retail and alfresco dining.

Across all three stages, a cohesive material palette of vertical concrete blades, acid-washed concrete, red brick and weathered steel creates civic character at street level while lighter residential towers maintain human scale. New pedestrian laneways and plazas stitch the precinct into the broader Rhodes peninsula, making it part of daily movement patterns.

“Building a community starts with thoughtful design,” says SJB Partner and Design Lead Emily Wombwell. “At Rhodes Central, we’ve created spaces that support this vision—it’s social infrastructure that says: you belong here.”

When complete in 2030, Rhodes Central will deliver over 1,600 homes for approximately 3,500 residents, along with more than 25,000-square-metres of publicly accessible amenity. It’s a model for how Sydney can accommodate growth while prioritising community needs—one stage at a time.

Billbergia
billbergia.com.au

SJB
sjb.com.au

Photography
Tom Roe