Thousand-year-old architectural trend keeping Australian cities ‘alive’
A stunning photo taken inside a historic Aussie building has triggered debate online - exposing a 1000-year-old phenomenon that will keep Aussie cities “alive”.
A phenomenon that’s been around Europe for centuries has given a major hint as to what Australia’s capital cities will look like in the years to come.
A picture of the interior of Swedish retailer H&M’s Melbourne flagship store, which opened in the Victorian capital’s heritage-listed General Post Office (GPO) building in 2014, went viral on Reddit this week.
“Anyone else think it’s a bit sad (that) a building this nice is an H&M?” the caption read, igniting a conversation among hundreds of Aussies about the merits of reimagining heritage-listed buildings – often built for uses that are now “obsolete” – as modern spaces, whether it be as a retailer, workplace, hotel or restaurant.
“Adapting existing buildings is something that has been going on in Australia for a long time,” director at Sydney architecture and urban design firm Welsh + Major, David Welsh, told news.com.au.
“Sure, our building stock is a bit younger than those grand old European cities – many of whom have been adapting and building upon old buildings for thousands of years, but the benefits of repurposing our old buildings here are the same.”
“There are quite a few prominent examples of successful commercial adaptions of major historic buildings in Australia’s capital cities, and increasing in recent decades,” University of Melbourne senior lecturer in architectural design and history, Dr Stuart King, told news.com.au.
“These include adaptations of former government as well as commercial buildings for various other purposes.”
The overwhelming majority of respondents to the photo of H&M’s GPO store were in favour of the move. As one Australian put it, “As long as it’s getting used and not knocked down I don’t mind.”
“Much, much better than it being knocked down like so many of Melbourne’s amazing old buildings and turned into soulless same-same glass eyesores,” another agreed.
While a third wrote: “I think the fact that it’s a H&M doesn’t detract from being able to appreciate the beautiful architecture. In fact, I think their use of the space is quite minimalist and appreciative of the old architecture. What do you suggest as an alternative? Almost any other use would probably result in fewer people from the general public being able to use and appreciate the space.”
“Doesn’t it make the building more accessible to the general public?” someone else asked.
The Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage in 2004 released a booklet supporting adaptive reuse, which in part read, “Historic buildings give us a glimpse of our past and lend character to our communities as well as serving practical purposes now.”
Dr King – who recently worked on Reclaiming Colonial Architecture, a book about reimagining historic colonial buildings – pointed to Brisbane’s former Treasury Building, Lands Administration and Customs House as examples of the phenomenon.
The heritage-listed Treasury was converted to a casino during the 90s, before Star Entertainment sold it for $67.5 million last September to Griffith University, who will reopen it as “a state-of-the-art educational environment” in 2027.
Built in 1901, the Land Administration Building was converted to the Treasury Hotel, also in the mid-90s, while Customs House, constructed between 1886 and 1889, has been a restaurant and function centre since the University of Queensland renovated it in 1994.
“In some instances, these buildings are obsolete in terms of their original purpose and/or location, or the nature of their accommodation is no longer fit to purpose,” Dr King said.
“Adaptation is then about keeping them ‘alive’ for current and future generations.”
The benefits of extending the life of heritage buildings are manifold, ranging from the commercial to the environmental.
“One of the best ways to ensure the conservation of historic buildings is to ensure that they have an ongoing use and hence, care,” Dr King said.
“So, there are immediate conservation benefits to adapting them for new uses in the present.
“More generally, adaptation of existing buildings, rather than demolition and building anew, is crucial to our collective work reducing our impacts on the environment – in this case through building construction, which is a very significant contributor to our carbon footprint.”
Past studies, including by America’s National Trust for Historic Preservation, have found that “building reuse almost always offers environmental savings over demolition and new construction”, and save between 33 to 50 per cent of greenhouse emissions.
For businesses and developers, Dr King said, adapting a heritage-listed building often has the bonus provision of an iconic address, location, or certain cultural capital “that might associate positively with a business’s brand”.
In January, Australian fashion brand Country Road submitted plans to fit out the 95-year-old Bank of New South Wales (later Westpac) building for its new flagship shop in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall.
Having previously been the tenants at the heritage-listed National Bank building in the Queensland’s capital’s CBD, a Country Road spokesperson said the new space would reflect the brand’s “commitment to timeless style and community connection”.
“The proposed works will achieve adaptive reuse of an under-utilised heritage building in a highly sought-after inner-city location whilst celebrating the heritage value and fabric that remains intact,” town planning firm Urbis said in an assessment report prepared on Country Road’s behalf and submitted to Brisbane City Council.
While in Sydney – to an arguably grander scale – French fashion house Hermes found a home worthy of its 188-year history: in 2020, the luxury brand took over the ground and lower floors of the Trust Building at 155 King Street, which has been listed on the NSW State Heritage Register since 1999.
“Existing spaces and building features can also provide a unique, in this case, retail experience,” Dr King said.
“They can be drawcards in themselves.”
Asked whether parameters around the type of business permitted to undertake an adaptive reuse project were needed – a retailer or hotel, for example, as opposed to a fast-food giant – Mr Welsh noted that the Golden Arches has been “rocking” two sites in Sydney’s George Street – one at the old Plaza Theatre, the other at the heritage-listed King George Chambers, for at least 30 years.
Per Australia’s Burra Charter, new uses for historic-built heritage sites should be compatible, meaning little intervention to the existing building fabric and respecting, “ideally” enhancing, existing associations and meanings, Dr King said.
“This shouldn’t preclude certain types of businesses, except if the need of their operation will impact the fabric and experiences (of) the historic building and spaces,” he continued.
“For example, a fast-food outlet with very strong branding might not be compatible in terms of accommodating kitchen and service areas and/or its branding might overpower significant meanings and associations embedded in the historic fabric.”
This is also when “controversies can emerge – if the new purpose is at odds with what the building in question means to the community”, Dr King said, which was one of the key debates around the original conversion of the Queensland Treasury Building to a casino in the 1990s.
“Controversies can also emerge where there might be major interventions in the building fabric and/or spaces: the retention of facades, but effectively rebuilding of everything beyond is often controversial,” he said.
Mr Welsh agreed. “Keeping old facades and then gutting everything out behind them isn’t a great outcome – it becomes a bit like a stage set,” he said.
“But if those original spaces are reused for modern purposes – offices, restaurants, shops and houses, or anything really – featuring lovely old walls, roof trusses, windows and doors, retaining, adapting and enhancing our old buildings can result in something really special – and valuable.
“If we look at our old buildings as things that add value, rather than act as obstacles, it can lead to better, more interesting outcomes for both developers and their customers.”
As Australia seeks to reduce its carbon footprint and its effects on the environment and climate, “we will see more of this trend towards adaptive reuse into the future, and not just in relation to major historic buildings but also more everyday buildings”, Dr King said.
“Heritage conservation is ultimately about conserving cultural and social values embedded in building fabric, rather than simply retaining building fabric for the sake of it,” he said.
“In this sense, reusing heritage buildings, and their embedded values, can contribute touchstones for community resilience in a rapidly changing world.”
What made Cyclone Alfred worse
A “decade of inaction” on climate pollution has cost Australians $1.2bn in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, experts say.
Albo pledges $25 cap on major medicines
Anthony Albanese will amp up Labor’s election bid with a huge cost-of-living promise that will bring down the cost of four out of five medications.
Albo to slash cost of prescription medication
In a huge move designed to make the federal election all about Medicare, the Prime Minister unveiled the big change, promising it will come into force on January 1.