$10.1 million office block to ‘complement’ controversial Gov Hub proposed in Ballarat CBD

Plans for a $10.1m office have come under fire with heritage advocates saying it would be disastrous for the city’s heritage streetscape. See why.

A $10.1m office building has been proposed in Ballarat’s CBD. Photo: Development application

Heritage advocates say a $10.1 million proposal for Ballarat’s CBD is the latest indication the city is at a “turning point” in how treats its famous historical streetscapes.

A development application before the City of Ballarat has revealed plans for an office complex at 222 Mair St, which intersects with Armstrong St, and is currently a car park.

Documents say the proposed six-storey building “marks a pronounced change in scale” for the central Ballarat precinct.

The brick-clad structure, designed by John Wardle Architects – those behind the nearby Gov Hub – would be split into two wings of different heights.

The northern section adjacent to Hancocks Lane would be 26.8m tall, and the southern side facing Mair St would be 23m.

View of the streetscape on Mair St including the proposed office building on the right. Photo: Development application

A “fold” at the wings’ third floors – the same height as number 220 on Mair St – would angle the facade backwards and make use of lighter bricks in hope of achieving a “visually recessive” appearance.

“Due to the small size of the site, in order to make each office space a size that is commercially viable, additional height above four storeys is essential,” documents said.

The height of the northern section would conceal a 3.1m-high rooftop fire tank and pump from pedestrians’ view.

Solar panels would be mounted on top of the southern building.

The building’s ground floor would offer a commercial tenancy entered from Mair St, and the five floors above that would consist of offices accessible from Armstrong St North through a central lobby.

Documents described the proposal as an opportunity to “complement the Gov Hub”, a building of controversial appearance among Ballarat residents.

A view of Gov Hub and the proposed development looking down Armstrong St. Photo: Development application

Planners used Gov Hub as precedent for the new proposal across the road, saying that it “altered the height of the built form” in the area.

“The immediate environs of the subject site are generally devoid of grand buildings,” document said.

“Surviving nineteenth century building stock has suffered from alterations and loss of original ornament, and as such does not retain authenticity and integrity to a high degree.

“It is also the case that this part of Mair Street has been subject to a major transformation in the form of the Government Hub development.”

The structure’s windows would be “punched out” of the masonry and shrouded with metal cladding.

Documents described the building facade as 60 per cent wall and 40 per cent glazing.

The building would be open five days a week, with a net lettable area of 1,320 sqm.

There will be no on-site car parking, but there will be spots for staff members’ bikes on the ground level.

Documents described the building facade as 60 per cent wall and 40 per cent glazing. Photo: Development application

Documents point out the “excellent access” to public transport and bicycle and walking infrastructure, but notes that drivers might have to pay for parking.

“Car parking provision on this small narrow site is challenging and barely viable.

“Accommodating car parking would almost certainly consume a significant portion of the ground floor plan.”

Elsewhere they said: “The car parking surveys indicate that whilst demand for car parking in the vicinity of the subject site is high, there are paid parking vacancies available to accommodate short-term car parking demands.”

Ballarat Heritage Watch president Stuart Kelly called the new proposal “hideous” and said Gov Hub, for which the usual approval process and consequent planning permit were not required because of an amendment to Ballarat’s planning scheme, was now being used as a precedent to put taller buildings across the city.

He doubted that so many offices were actually in use across town.

“The understanding that most of us have got from hearing people who have put in cafes and stuff on the grounds that they would be getting 1000 workers in Gov Hub is that they feel short changed because they [the numbers] haven’t eventuated,” Mr Kelly said.

“If you look at that, plus the plans for the Humffray St South building where they’ve got seven storeys of office space and the five storeys of office space in the other Mair St suggestion, plus all the vacant properties around the centre of Ballarat … it may be a financial justification for building more office space, but it’s not something that is drastically needed, I would think, in the heart of Ballarat.”

The location of the proposed building at 222 Mair St. Photo: Development application

He said he would prefer a building of perhaps up to four storeys, designed sympathetically with the streetscape, instead.

“It’s one of a series of totally out-of-scale buildings that have been proposed for the CBD of Ballarat,” he said.

“I think it’s a turning point. If Council allows the three or four that are currently planned, then Ballarat’s heritage is obviously shown to be not an important factor for the council – that’s if they allow this.

“At the moment there’s been a lot of advertising for Heritage Week, the Heritage Festival: allowing these sort of buildings would just make a laughing stock of that.”

Mr Kelly also criticised the lack of car parks proposed at the office block, when the planning scheme would require several-dozen.