Anthony Burke: It won't be uncommon in 20 years to have four houses sharing one back yard'

An $800m fish market in Pyrmont features timber, glass, and steel in a large, modern complex beside an older site. Ice-packed fish are displayed in glossy rows, with visitors moving through the market energetically. The renovation replaced a previously convoluted purchase process and includes cold storage and spaces intended to attract tourists, along with housing auction rooms. The project took ten years and was guided by a complicated brief. The building is described as brave, with a sweeping roof underside covered in 400 solar panels. The market is already busy on a drizzly Thursday and has been listed among the world’s greatest places for 2026.

"Better is the $800m new fish market in Pyrmont, which sits beside the old site in an enormous sweep of timber, glass and steel. It's mid-morning on a drizzly Thursday and already packed. Design magazines have been fawning over the Sydney Fish Market, Burke says. It was a 10-year project with a complicated brief, from needing to attract tourists to housing auction rooms and cold storage. It wasn't easy but it worked, and has just been listed by Time magazine as one of the world's greatest places of 2026."

"We don't have many brave buildings in Australia,' says Anthony Burke. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian It's brave, he says, looking up into the sweeping underside of the roof, which is encrusted with 400 solar panels. We don't have many brave buildings in Australia. We grab takeaway coffees and sit outside in the generous amphitheatre of steps leading down to the water. A persistent seagull bounces around a family eating hot chips below."

"Before the renovation, this place used to be in the old car park and the purchase process was deeply convoluted. He grins. This is better. Better is the $800m new fish market in Pyrmont, which sits beside the old site in an enormous sweep of timber, glass and steel. It's mid-morning on a drizzly Thursday and already packed. Design magazines have been fawning over the Sydney Fish Market, Burke says."

"Jelly-like eyeballs are staring back at architect Anthony Burke as he approaches the ice-packed fish displays in front of Claudio's Seafoods in Sydney's new fish market. Sand whiting, blue mackerel and coral trout are packed into glossy rows, their eyes dull or slightly surprised. The ruby snapper, in contrast, looks more like a movie star, with its orange-rimmed eyes that seem to entice us. Burke is moving through each display energetically, pointing out the bar cod cutlets his favourite."

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