heritage

Reinterpret and reimagine through adaptive reuse by Tom Oliver Payne

Back in London a couple of months ago I visited Battersea Power Station, Coal Drops Yard and The Standard (one I worked on back 2015). These adaptive reuse projects entice people to visit. They’re bold. They tell a story.

The bricks and mortar honour the past, but the playful elements like chimney lift shaft, themed bar, encircling shared street and basketball courts engage with the city in a contemporary way.

We’re lucky in Sydney: we can learn from international projects like these (the pros and cons) to apply thinking to White Bay Power Station, Newtown Tram Sheds and North Eveleigh, to name a few. Heritage isn’t a burden, but an opportunity to reinterpret and reimagine.

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SMH Article: What Sydney can learn from London's approach to brutalist architecture by Tom Oliver Payne

"Sirius, just like Trellick, Balfron and the Barbican in London, illustrates important aspects of the nation's social and cultural history."Last week I had an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald on brutalist architecture in Sydney and London. 

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