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Aussie tech giant Canva’s amendments to its approved plans for its headquarters have been waved through by the City of Sydney.
At its meeting last night (February 13), the Central Sydney Planning Committee approved Canva’s proposal to add 1.5 storeys to the plans to adaptively reuse a 10-storey tower in Surry Hills’ Kippax Street.
Described by the committee as “clever, careful and exciting”, the amendment adds space for building services, sustainability objectives and a larger meeting area on top of the tower.
The amendment to the plan, which was approved in May of last year, won unanimous support from the City of Sydney Transport, Heritage and Planning Committee at its meeting earlier in the week (February 10).
Multibillion-dollar Australian tech company Canva has won support for its plans at Surry Hills after its “fruitful experience” with the City of Sydney this week.
The tech giant wants to add 1.5 storeys to its plans for the adaptive reuse of its Sydney base, a 10-storey office on 8-24 Kippax Street, Surry Hills.
The plan was approved in May of last year.
The proposal is due to go before the Central Sydney Planning Committee for determination on February 13.
The upgraded plans received unanimous support during the City of Sydney Transport, Heritage and Planning Committee meeting on February 10.
Canva build lead Tom McNamara told that meeting the additional space would be used for building services, sustainability objectives and a larger meeting space.
“It’s been a surprisingly helpful and fruitful experience,” McNamara said.
“I really appreciate the collaborative nature in which we’ve engaged with council.
“We’ve been a long-term employer and resident in Surry Hills since about 2011. We purchased this building at the end of 2022 with the intent of making our new headquarters.
“We employ about 2500 people in Sydney and see this as our long-term commitment to Surry Hills.”
Canva is believed to have paid around $120 million for the vacant office tower built in the 1960s for the adaptive reuse project.
City of Sydney councillor Adam Worling told he meeting he was thrilled the development was going ahead as the “building absolutely needed some love”.
“It’s fantastic as this area evolves into a technology hub that you [Canva] are staying in the area. Thank you, thank you,” Worling said.
“You have well and truly outgrown your area up the road.”
The company was leasing 110 Kippax Street from Stasia, which had planned a residential development for the site but switched to commercial for Canva in 2019.
The tech company has kept design elements from the old building with a rooftop space on its new headquarters.
“Residents were worried about all the parties you were going to host on the rooftop but there were no complaints,” Worling said.
The scheme proposed for the 1037sq m site has been designed by Cox Architecture.
The Urban Developer Property and Economic Outlook | For property development professionals in the Greater Sydney region. Click here
