By Tom Cowie
For 60 years, the brutalist office building with pebbledash exterior has loomed over Kew, with bureaucrats from the state’s road authorities working away inside.
Since early last year, the former VicRoads headquarters has sat empty, aside from some firefighters currently using it for training.
Housing Minister Harriet Shing outside the former VicRoads site.Credit: Wayne Taylor
But the main tower on the site could be spared the wrecking ball under a state government plan to readapt it for housing.
Development Victoria is currently investigating whether the seven-storey structure can be transformed to accommodate 125 homes as part of a pilot program to encourage developers to retrofit old buildings for residential use.
Under the plan, the 2.5-hectare site on Denmark Street close to Kew Junction would be carved up into four different sections to make way for a total of 500 homes.
Three were offered to developers this week, while the state government intends to keep one piece in the centre as part of its proposal to turn disused offices into housing.
The “H” shape of the former VicRoads building makes it ideal for reuse.Credit: Development Victoria
During a recent tour with Development Victoria officials and Housing Minister Harriet Shing, The Age was given a glimpse inside the former VicRoads building to see whether the plan could become a reality.
The first impression was that this is a building that is showing its age.
Large nets cover the outside of the tower to catch any loose chunks that fall from the facade. The windows are small, many loaded with old air-conditioners. Stickers warn against drilling because of asbestos.
Signs of VicRoads’ tenancy are still evident, with murals of roads on the interior walls and old whiteboards scrawled with corporate gobbledegook.
And then there’s the old-fashioned “H” shape of the building, with two wings connected by a central cross-section that contains the lift and stairwell shaft.
On top, sitting like a crown, is a crows’ nest that once housed the building caretaker.
Those tasked with making the project work are looking beyond such things.
“We have every hope that we can use the structure that’s here,” said Hannah Clement, acting chief development officer at Development Victoria.
“So that’s the work over the next couple of months, to get in and have a look and just see what can be salvaged and hopefully reused.”
Readapting a building that opened in 1961, when it was home to the Country Roads Board, means that the early stages of that work would be ensuring that everything is still structurally sound.
A crucial step would be checking that any water that has penetrated the roof has not affected the concrete.
The building is not up to seismic code and needs reinforcement, while balconies would also have to be installed on the outside – regulations have changed a lot in six decades.
The Kew offices in 1961 on their opening day. The buildings housed VicRoads’ predecessor, the Country Roads Board.Credit: The Age
But there are some advantages to working with an older structure, compared with adapting a modern office tower.
The “H” shape is actually a benefit here, as it provides what is known as a shallow floor plate, which refers to the width of the building between its main exterior walls.
Getting sunlight and ventilation into the Kew building would be much easier than with newer offices, which tend to have deeper floor plates and more space between windows.
This is the reason why only the southern office tower has been identified for reuse, with the smaller northern building to be demolished and replaced as part of the overall site redevelopment.
The former VicRoads site in Kew will be redeveloped for housing.Credit: Development Victoria
Taller ceiling heights are another benefit of older buildings, as that allows for pipes to be built in to provide plumbing for each individual dwelling.
The central core of the building, which houses the lifts, can also be transformed to make room for utilities such as water and electricity to each floor.
“There’s probably an over provision of lifts for residential use,” said Clement. “Those wells can instead be used for services.”
All of this shows why there’s still quite a way to go before transport nerds could move into the former nerve centre of Victoria’s road network, with construction expected to begin some time in the next two years.
Development Victoria has recently completed public consultation, which will result in a “community aspirations report” to guide the project’s future.
A design and development overlay will restrict height limits to a maximum of 28.5 metres.
There have been calls from people such as federal Kooyong MP Monique Ryan for the site to be used for public housing; however the state government has opted against that idea.
At least 10 per cent of dwellings will be allocated for affordable housing, a loosely defined term that is supposed to ensure buyers from low to moderate-incomes can cover other essential living costs.
The former VicRoads building in Kew.Credit: Penny Stephens
Boroondara Council is also pushing for the “tail” of the site, a piece of land 20 metres wide and 280 metres long that was once a railway line, to become a shared-use bike path.
That idea is being considered by the state government; however the high price of real estate in Kew will be a factor in whether it becomes housing.
While the government is keen to see if adaptive reuse can work in Kew, it has ruled out doing so in the case of the 44 high-rise public housing towers in Melbourne, which will be razed and rebuilt by the Labor government.
Many of the towers date back to a similar era as the VicRoads office, and there have been calls for refurbishment over demolition. However, Shing said there were some key differences as to why the government was not opting to retrofit.
“Firstly, we don’t have people living on these sites, the building is already vacant,” she said.
She said another factor was the size of the VicRoads building compared to the pre-fab concrete towers, which are between 20 and 30 storeys high.
“With the towers redevelopment, we know that it would be upwards of $2 billion just to make them habitable,” said Shing.
As for whether the option of living in the old VicRoads building would prove attractive to home buyers, Shing said it would “get a few pulses racing”.
She highlighted the sweeping views of the city and close access to amenities, including schools and public transport.
“We’re talking about a large footprint in an area which has been traditionally very, very difficult to get into real estate,” she said.
“We want to bring more opportunities for people to get into the property market.”
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correction
An earlier version of this story stated Harriet Shing was the Planning Minister. She is the Minister for Housing and Building.