Urbis Think Tank
Planning for the new Sydney IKEA: no DIY affair
Over a long 4½ years, Urbis worked with IKEA to plan and develop the largest IKEA store in the Southern Hemisphere in the inner Sydney suburb of Tempe. Its recent opening was celebrated with considerable fanfare as many thousands of keen DIY customers flocked to peruse the Swedish designed goods displayed upon the 2.5km path winding across the store.
This project was recognised by IKEA as the most challenging store to develop anywhere in the world to date.
Urbis provided planning advice and project guidance throughout the entire process and was instrumental in resolving the multiple issues and ultimately securing approval.
The site’s history as a former landfill tip coupled with its location under the flight path of Sydney Airport were some of the obstacles faced in the design of the project. The planning hurdles were equally challenging.
To overcome the issues of permissibility and its out of centre location our approach focused on:
- Demonstrating the significant local and regional benefits of the project led by its creation of permanent employment through workers for the store as well as becoming the Asia-Pacific headquarters for IKEA.
- Demonstrating that the project was consistent with the state strategic planning direction for revitalising the Princes Highway corridor and illustrating the flow on benefits as IKEA will become a catalyst for investment and renewal to surrounding properties along the corridor.
- Satisfying government that appropriate measures were in place to mitigate the potential operational impacts by addressing stakeholder concerns through innovative measures such as retaining the historic fig tree by relocating it on-site and establishing shuttle bus services from Sydenham railway station.