VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE MEDALMcBride Charles RyanDallas Brooks CommunityPrimary School

SIR OSBORN MCCUTCHEON AWARDFOR COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTUREpeckvonhartel & ARM ArchitectureVictorian Desalination Plant

COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE AWARDTechne ArchitectsPrahran Hotel

COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE – COMMENDATIONJohn Wardle Architects25 Rokeby Street

JOHN GEORGE KNIGHT AWARD FORHERITAGE ARCHITECTURELovell Chen Architects & Heritage ConsultantsMelbourne GPO Exterior Conservation Works

HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE AWARDKerstin Thompson ArchitectsWertheim Factory Conversion – Studio Nine

COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE AWARDWoods BagotNational Australia Bank (NAB) Docklands

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The former Wertheim Piano Factory is a Federation Freestyle building constructed in red brick in 1909. The complex was later used as a factory by Heinz and by GTV9 Studios from 1955.

The project entailed the adaptive re-use of the building to residential, community and retail uses, incorporating 34 apartments, a café, restaurant and community centre. Facilities are for the use of both residents and the greater community.

The project deftly overcame a raft of constraints including adapting the building to comply with contemporary building codes and heritage permit requirements. The historic building has yielded a diverse range of dwelling types, working with the idiosyncrasies of the building and producing an inventive, non-generic outcome.

The project responds well to the competing tensions of achieving good design outcomes and the developer’s need for a marketable product suited to as wide a range of potential purchasers as possible. The utilitarian expression of elements such as lighting and stencilled signage recalls the industrial and entertainment heritage of this site.

This project demonstrates the economic and cultural value of the adaptive re-use of heritage buildings. The historic building forms the gateway into the broader Studio Nine precinct. Rather than a constraint, the heritage value of the building has been used as a branding advantage for the precinct. The retention and adaptation of the building has yielded a positive urban design outcome, in that this site, once gated and separated from its neighbourhood, has been reconnected with the surrounding suburb.

WERTHEIM FACTORY CONVERSION – STUDIO 9 KERSTIN THOMPSON ARCHITECTS

AWARDHERITAGE ARCHITECTURE

PRACTICE TEAM

CONSULTANT TEAM

Scott DienerKerstin Thompson

Project architect Design architect Project team

Robert Bird Group Oculus Cardno ITC Renzo Tonin Murchie Consulting Murchie Consulting WT Partnership Contour Consulting One Group JP Fire Leigh Design Bosco Jonson/Absolute Surveying Bryce Raworth Philip Chun

Lend Lease ApartmentsLend Lease Project Management & ConstructionDerek Swalwell

Structural consultant Landscape consultant Lighting consultant Acoustic consultant Services consultant Environmental consultant Cost Consultant Town PlanningAccess ConsultantFire EngineerWaste ManagementLand SurveyorHeritage consultant Building surveyor

Client Builder

Photographer

Kelley MackayAmy Hurren William SamuelsMichael Archibald Claire HumphreysJamie Patterson Andre Ullal

Laurence Dragomir Tim HeronJulian Patterson Sarah LakeJacqui Alexander Ben PakulskyLynn Chew

The City of Melbourne is proud to sponsor the Heritage Architecture category as an indication of our ongoing commitment to advocating for a healthy combination of both continuity and change in our urban environment.