They paint a picture for an Illawarra that has a modern look and feel.

It embraces its past, but isn't ashamed of it and it takes us a step towards the future with a complex that will house clean energy, technology, research and training.

Some of the artist's impressions are jaw-dropping. Like the way it has incorporated the old blast furnace by adjoining the three structures with bridges, and what looks like a rooftop restaurant overlooking an amphitheatre.

The Danish designer, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have used its imagination,and it has experience doing so having designed Google's Mountain View complex and The Spiral in New York City.

The designs may seem fanciful to some. Grandiose, perhaps, for a city like Wollongong with its deep industrial roots.

And why shouldn't they be.

Wollongong has deep potential to transform from its industrial past and grow into a leading city. That doesn't mean we have to leave behind the dirt. That stuff is etched into our skin and gives us grit and resilience to grow and change.

These designs, should they ever become more than artists impressions, provide a place where talent will want to come to work.

They will put Wollongong on the map for the best, the brightest, but also the most determined.