The Lands by Capella

Direct Client Built
Developer Pontiac Land Group
Architect Hassell
Heritage Architects Urbis & Purcell
Sydney, NSW
- Sydney
Services
- Acoustics
- Facades
- Heritage
- Remedial
Sectors
- Hotels and Hospitality
Project Manager Essence Project Management
Value $200 Million
Year Completed 2025

Last Project
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Part of Sydney's rich architectural history, The Lands by Capella has been thoughtfully reimagined as a luxury hospitality destination, preserving its heritage while creating new opportunities for people to gather, celebrate and connect.

Project

The Department of Lands Building is one of Sydney’s most significant heritage landmarks. Located on Bridge Street and designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet, the Victorian Renaissance Revival building has played an important role in the public life of New South Wales for more than 130 years.

Today, it is being revitalized as The Lands by Capella, a world-class hospitality, dining, retail and events destination within Sydney’s Sandstone Precinct redevelopment.

Partnership

Northrop partnered with BUILT to deliver acoustic, façade and structural heritage engineering solutions that respected the building’s heritage significance while supporting its transformation into a world-class destination. Close collaboration with heritage architect Purcell and stone mason Stone Mason & Artist Pty Ltd (SMA) was fundamental to the project’s success. By combining an understanding of structural behaviour, heritage conservation requirements, acoustic performance and practical stonemasonry techniques, the team developed solutions that protected the building’s historic fabric while enabling efficient and sensitive construction.

Delivery

The structural heritage works included stabilising original timber lath and plaster ceilings, repairing historic concrete jack arch ceilings and remediating sections of the building’s extensive sandstone façade and associated statues. Throughout the project, careful attention was given to preserving the building’s historic character, craftsmanship and architectural integrity while ensuring its long-term structural performance. A focus on reusing existing material with limited aesthetic interruptions was adopted by our team to provide the client with a revitalised heritage icon with limited noticeable structural intervention.

Northrop’s façade engineers worked closely with the wider project team to address the challenge of maintaining the building’s heritage appearance while achieving contemporary structural and weather-tightness performance. With suitable heritage-style window systems in limited supply, the team developed customised façade solutions and carefully selected materials that complemented the building’s original character without compromising performance.

An alternative on-site laboratory testing methodology was also implemented to verify the customised window systems, providing a practical and efficient solution where conventional proprietary testing was not feasible.

Working closely with BUILT, Northrop also delivered noise and vibration monitoring to protect the heritage-listed building, nearby occupied properties and critical Sydney Water infrastructure during adjacent tunnelling works. When direct monitoring of the Sydney Water pipeline was not possible due to its location beneath an operational road, our team developed an alternative methodology to accurately assess vibration impacts. By optimising the monitoring strategy from the outset, we reduced the number of monitoring stations required, delivering cost savings while maintaining confidence in the monitoring program.

Continuous monitoring, supported by detailed technical analysis, enabled the team to distinguish construction-related vibration from unrelated events, demonstrating ongoing compliance and avoiding unnecessary interruptions to the tunnelling works. Our monitoring and remedial inspections also confirmed that both the heritage building and nearby infrastructure remained protected throughout construction.

Impact

By carefully restoring and strengthening key heritage elements, Northrop helped enable the adaptive reuse of one of Sydney’s most significant historic buildings. Through integrated structural heritage, façade and acoustic engineering solutions, the project balanced heritage conservation with contemporary performance requirements, supporting the building’s transformation into a world-class hospitality, dining and events destination while preserving the architectural character that has defined the Bridge Street landmark for more than 130 years.

The project demonstrates how thoughtful engineering can extend the life of heritage assets, allowing them to evolve to meet modern needs while retaining the qualities that make them culturally significant. The Lands by Capella will continue to contribute to Sydney’s public life, ensuring this iconic landmark remains relevant, functional and valued for generations to come.