Those " Heritage " Decisions !

The battle for the preservation of parts of " old " Sydney sometimes wanders into strange decision making.  Such was the case when plans went before council for a new apartment building on Bayswater street, Potts Point.  This was a replacement for a 1912 vintage Edwardian faced apartment building which some people thought had " heritage " value.   As a result, the plan only received approval with the inclusion of provisions that this old façade be preserved and integrated into the new building.

That certainly delivered immense problems to the developer, not the least of which was site access. How do you construct a new eight story, forty-four apartment building on a city site when the only access to the street is blocked by a façade - which must be retained ?   It seems the developer just ignored the heritage order and used sledge hammers to destroy the façade.

That was a law breach that could result in a $5 million fine and possibly a prison term if it proceeds to a criminal prosecution.  But the façade destruction did eliminate the problem of integrating something old into something new.  The heritage order required this old façade of Hensley Hall to be preserved and the new building constructed both behind and above that façade.    That would require a 1912 entrance to a building with apartments already selling off the plan for prices starting at $ 820,000.

The developer now claims that the destruction of the old façade was inevitable.  On inspection, it was found that the spandrels and parapets thought to be masonry were actually timber and this was rotted with age.  This unstable structure was cleared away because the developer intends to restore the façade - using brick.

From a point of view of building practice, trying to construct a new building while an unstable facade is preserved would be a nightmare.  Far easier to simply restore something reasonably like what was there before, but using modern material.   The only problem is that this new façade will bear absolutely no relationship to what was sought to be preserved.

To the eye of the historian, heritage is preservation of something that is an example of the past exactly as it was in that earlier period.  Many would question whether inflicting the façade of an old building on the front of a modern high building serves that purpose.  Few will be satisfied with a carefully constructed impression on what that old façade looked like but presented with modern building materials.

Now the law must take its course.  A punitive aspect must discourage others from interfering with heritage orders but it should also include a more technical involvement in the decision when heritage orders are being decided.   The aesthetics need to be in tune with the practical nature of what is proposed.

It will be interesting to see exactly what finally fronts the street when this new Hensley House opens its doors to the public.