Australians are high rise lovers but what is it like to live in the building voted best in the world?

THIS week, a big new Aussie building was named the world’s best. But is living in the world’s most sought-after pad really all it’s cracked up to be?

An interior of One Central Park

SYDNEY can now claim the honour of having the ‘Best Tall Building in the World’.

One Central Park has taken out the coveted title gifted by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) in Chicago, USA, this week.

So, what’s it like to live there?

We had one resident, landscape architect Mike Horne, give us the inside story.

Best on Broadway: One Central Park, Chippendale

An interior of One Central Park

‘So, I live in the best tall building in the world? Wow.

But before I tell you what it is like living here, I need to fess up to a few things.

Declaration one: I’m a Cronulla boy. I’ve lived in the suburbs for the last 25 years. And I am a divorced empty-nester. It was just me and the dog living in a house too big.

I needed a change. Big time. Time to move on. So six months ago, it was out with the old and in with the new.

One Central Park resident: landscape architect Mike Horne

I traded in suburbia for city life and moved into what has turned out to be the best building in the world.

No more lawns, no more driving for coffee, no more vacant space and no more piles of ‘stuff’ accumulated over the years — everything must go! .....well almost.

Declaration two: I may be biased.

I am now living in a project I worked on. Yes, I love it that much.

Hell, I thought, I’ve given this project seven years of my life, time to see how its looks from the other side, through the eyes of an inhabitant.

I have to tell you it was nerve-racking — at first. So far above the ground. After all I’m just a suburban boy.

But I have to say the amazing skyrise views are to die for.

As the landscape architect for Central Park, I helped created the parks, the streets and the green buildings.

It’s been a joy working with the world most talented ‘starchitects’ Jean Nouvel and Norman Foster, vertical garden guru Patrick Blanc — not to mention my design partner Jeppe Aagaard Andersen of Denmark. Move over Princess Mary!

One Central Park: Chippendale’s contribution to a greener city scape. Pic: Frasers Property Australia and Sekisui House Australia

I especially love the view over Central Station and the glimpse down Darling Harbour to the fast emerging Barangaroo. From my eye in the sky, this end of town is exploding out of the ground. And I see it all through my ‘garden in the sky’. It’s seriously fabulous.

I see green out every window. A real jungle. It keeps me feeling really earthed.

Easy being green.

OK, it’s not harbourside but hey, Chippendale or should I say Hippendale has serious street cred.

I take the lift down to my supermarket and I’m immediately struck by all the young, fresh faces of new Asia. Mostly affluent Chinese students attending one of the nearby universities.

It suddenly dawns on me — I am at the Sydney epicentre of the dawning Asian Century.

The suburban boy is nervous but the intrepid city adventurer is enthralled.

It’s time to walk the dog. Down in my new park Chippendale Green. It’s made for everyone, old and new.

The ‘heliostat’ sheds light on the area

The recipe is simple — just add a vibrant green carpet of lawn, surrounded by beautiful trees, add a splash of playful water, then a dollop of art.

Mix it all together and this is a great place where people can hang out, feel good, sunbake, kick a ball and heaven forbid, even get to know each other! Who’d have thought ...

I especially love how people just gaze in wonderment at the fabulous ‘Halo’, that yellow circle thingy from artist, Jennifer Turpin and Michaelie Crawford. it’s seemingly suspended in the air, wobbling strangely like a drunken sailor. I love it and never tire of it.

‘Halo’: a brilliant artwork on Chippendale Green, designed by Jennifer Turpin and Michaelie Crawford.

And Central Park is only half finished. There are more shops, offices and apartments to come. In Kensington Street, the entire street is being made into a pedestrian lane with cool bars, boutique 5-star hotels, flower shops, and hatted restaurants.

One Central Park features a Nouvel architectural signature — a monumental cantilever — which supports a light-reflecting heliostat system., while the largest en masse vertical gardens in the world (covering 1,100sqm) makes me feel like I am living in a sky garden.

I love this building, and I love the place — I’m enthralled by its vibrancy, its energy and diversity. Even Costa, my little old dog, gives it the big thumbs up.

You can find Mike Horne on Twitter, @hometurf.

Photography credit: Images courtesy of Frasers Property Australia and Sekisui House Australia