The Newlands is a multi-stage residential community at St Leonards on Sydney’s North Shore, delivering a range of housing within walking distance of major public transport links. The development brings together five residential buildings ranging from six to eleven storeys, all connected by a single shared basement structure. Set across a 12,500m² site, The Newlands includes 330 apartments, parking for 372 vehicles, a landscaped green spine, public domain works to every frontage, and pedestrian links throughout.

The project was designed by award-winning architects Bates Smart, with landscape architecture by Arcadia, and is expected to reach completion in late 2026.

Civil design on residential developments  

JN Engineering provided civil engineering design across the full scope of the project, including stormwater, earthworks, grading, road frontage and public domain works, and traffic. JN also designed a large sewer main diversion, a complex undertaking that removed a significant constraint from the site and protected the construction programme from costly delays.

By leading the civil design across all five buildings and their shared basement, JN provided a single coordinated approach across project delivery. This reduced the risk of clashes and rework during construction and kept the wider design moving efficiently.

JN’s innovations: delivering cost and time savings

One of the defining challenges was the steeply sloping site, which carried roughly 14m of crossfall between frontages. Rather than treating this as a limitation, JN’s engineers used careful grading and earthworks design to work with the natural topography, manage overland flow paths throughout the site and ensure the external levels complement the architectural scheme.

JN’s most significant innovation was a unique combined on-site detention, water quality treatment and rainwater tank system. Conventional stormwater designs require two separate pipe networks throughout a development: one for stormwater and another for rainwater. By integrating both functions into a single system, JN’s engineers removed an entire layer of duplicated pipework across the precinct.

The result was an enormous saving in both cost and space. Fewer pipes meant lower material and installation costs, faster construction, and more usable area within an already tightly planned basement and podium as well as within risers and upper floors of the building.

How JN engineers deliver positive outcomes

JN’s contribution to The Newlands shows how thoughtful civil design shapes a better project:

• A combined detention and rainwater system that cut cost, space, and construction time
• A challenging sloping site resolved through efficient grading and earthworks
• A major sewer main diversion delivered to reduce programme risk
• Coordinated civil design across five buildings and a single shared basement.

The Newlands demonstrates JN Engineering’s approach on large residential development projects in Sydney. By finding smarter, more efficient solutions, JN’s engineers save clients time and money while supporting outstanding design.