| Architecture Australia - September/October 2002 - Refit RADARREFIT Gentle insertions, subtle modifications and careful removals by Melocco & Moore have revitalised the City of Sydney’s Corporation Building. Andrew Nimmo considers the issues of architecture and the everyday.
Photos Paul Gosney
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Before and after photographs of the facade and the interior demonstrate the substantial yet subtle work that has been undertaken. Photos of existing conditions by Melocco & Moore.
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It may not be apparent at first glance, but
a significant amount of work has been
undertaken on this building. It is not work
that is highly visible, though comparative
before and after photographs certainly
illustrate a significant change. This is a
project which shows that architects have a
role to play in the everyday works that make
up the bulk of what is built around us.
A minor project by the notable Victorian
Architect George McCrae, (best known for
the Victoria Building), the Corporation
Building was completed in 1885 and
formed part of the Haymarket precinct of
warehouses and markets. It originally
housed a public toilet, and at various times
it has been used as workshops, retail
outlets and a restaurant.
Architects Melocco & Moore were
commissioned by the City of Sydney Council
to undertake the refurbishment and adaptive
reuse of the building. This was one of the
last of the Living City Projects from the City
of Sydney - a series of highly successful
schemes managed by the City Projects arm
of council under the stewardship of director
Bill Tsaklos and mayor Frank Sartor. The
brief from City Projects seems to have been
fairly loose, but the budget was generous
enough to allow a serious restoration of the
building to be completed.
While various alterations, additions and
paint jobs had kept the building functionally
and economically active over the years, the
base building fabric had suffered through
the type of neglect and disinterest that was
common with buildings of this type through
most of the twentieth century.
This was until quite recently a pretty
dingy and dodgy part of town. Out of the
main action and bright lights of Chinatown,
it is located on the compressed section of
Hay Street, wedged between busy George
and Pitt streets. This location is probably
what saved the building from demolition and
redevelopment many years ago.
It is only since the refurbishment of the
adjacent Capitol Theatre that anyone other
than the Chinese community has shown
an interest in this area. Most Sydneysiders
would only know the Corporation Building
as the location of Cyril’s Delicatessen, one
of the first continental delis in Sydney and
justly famous for its selection of Russian
and Polish produce. From a heritage
perspective, the cultural heritage of Cyril’s,
with his 45-year unbroken lease, is
probably as significant as the architectural
heritage of the building. In fact much of the
work was programmed around Cyril’s,
ensuring that he could continue trading
throughout construction and then move
directly into the shop next door when it was
ready for occupation.
The restoration works have been
completed correctly and thoroughly. Layers
of external paint have been carefully
removed from the beautiful terracotta
coloured bricks and the joints have been repointed.
More stripping of paint revealed the
building’s plaque, which was partly
concealed under the awning. Crumbling
sandstone was either replaced or built up
with ground sandstone in an epoxy-bonded
matrix. Parapets were newly capped with
soft lead to protect the walls underneath.
Careless and insensitive additions were
removed and more appropriate works
inserted. The simple and elegant steel
framed shopfronts recall the 1920s shops
in their profile and indented entry, but they
meet the sandstone arch in a more
sympathetic manner. Internally the
architects have installed a new central stair
and a lift to provide access for all, and the
fire stair has been rearranged in a more
sensible fashion.
The heritage consultants, Godden
Mackay Logan, recommended the removal
of the awning as this was not an original
feature. That it has remained and been
refurbished (principally because of cost
reasons) is perhaps a victory for pedestrian
amenity over heritage orthodoxy. It also
shows that the approach to adaptively
reusing this building has not been precious
and didactic, rather it responds to the
notion that a building should be allowed to
react to changing contexts. A glazed cut in
the awning was made to emphasise the
point of entry to the first floor and to reveal
the whole of the building plaque. This cut
allows the full elevation to be viewed in at
least one location, and is a minor
consolation to the heritage consultants
desire to remove the awning entirely.
Melocco & Moore have had to approach
the building reuse with flexibility in mind, as
there was no definite program that might
frame an architectural response, other than
historical. Apart from Cyril’s, the only clue
to the use of the building, especially the
second level, was that it would become
some form of cultural or community facility
for the Chinatown/Haymarket precinct. This
was confirmed during the construction
process when the Asia-Australia Arts
Centre decided to move in. They tenant the
first floor as a single large gallery space,
along with ancillary office space, staff
amenities and toilets. A smaller gallery
occupies one of the retail slots at street
level and is linked sideways to the central
entry. The remainder of the ground floor has
been reopened as small retail outlets.
The Chinese cultural aspect of the project
prompted the architects to employ Howard
Choy to review the Feng Shui performance
of the building design and to advise on
possible remedies. While this cultural
sensitivity should be applauded, one
wonders what would have happened had
the recommendations of the Feng Shui
consultant clashed with the objectives of
sound architectural design. How does an
architect, especially one with a European
background, judge the merits of Feng Shui?
There is currently a lot of debate about the
benefits of Feng Shui, as it has become for
some another extension of “New Age” metaphysical principles. Described as “a
kind of architectural acupuncture” on one of
the many North American websites
dedicated to authentic Feng Shui, the same
site also poked fun at the likes of Donald
Trump gaining advice on which way to hang
his doors. Fortunately for the Corporation
Building, resolving the two energies of chi
and sha has not had a negative influence on
the completed design. In fact, Phil Moore
described most of the Feng Shui
recommendations as sound and sensible.
Melocco & Moore have accepted that the
appropriate response to this building is to be
modest. This project does not show off the
design skills of the architects. It will not turn
heads or jump out of the pages of this
magazine. The project was an exercise in
gentle removal and urban repair, because
sometimes that is an appropriate
architectural response.
Andrew Nimmo is a director of Lahz Nimmo Architects and is a regular contributor to architectural journals
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| Project Credits |
Corporation Building, Sydney
Architect Melocco and Moore Architects—project
team Phil Moore, David Melocco, Nick Hibberd.
Heritage Consultant Godden Mackay Logan. Fung
Shui Consultant Howard Choy. Structural Engineer
Chapman Hutchison and Associates. Electrical, Lift,
Mechanical Engineer Bassett Consulting
Engineers. Quantity Surveyor Jon Cave and
Associates. Builder Buildcorp Australia. Client City
Projects, City of Sydney.
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