Ageing heritage buildings that have been poorly maintained over the decades always present a challenge for developers looking to improve their value. Restoration is a careful craft and can often be overwhelmed by attempts to repurpose and extend. This 145-year-old retail building had been beset by inauthentic attempts at extension that blurred the original cultural heritage and left the site significantly under-developed.
POWE Architects assisted Pellicano Builders and Zagame Corporation to execute a design vision by Cavill Architects that restored the original heritage building to its former glory while creating a modern extension that wraps the lightness of timber and tin in a solid architectural language more engaged with the forms James St in the 21st Century.
Working closely with the construction team, our architects supported the careful peeling back of the 50’s, 80’s and 00’s envelopes to reveal the original building fabric, which is now being restored to its original condition for the first time in over 60 years. The new construction involved the careful detailing and erection of 57 unique precast elements to create the bookending elevation statements that will form the entry statements to this exciting retail and culinary destination.
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