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Utsushi is a Japanese concept of reinterpretation, replication, or transformation that preserves the essence of the original, fostering a dialogue between past and present to ensure continuity through adaptation. This philosophy is integral to traditional Japanese arts, including pottery, calligraphy, and Noh theatre, where practitioners create works that honour past masters while incorporating new interpretations.

The Burra Charter, guiding Australian heritage practice, emphasises the role of use in preserving heritage places. Disused sites may suffer deterioration, while adaptive reuse — giving places new, compatible functions — ensures their longevity. Just as utsushi preserves cultural continuity through adaptation, good heritage practice acknowledges that redundant heritage places must evolve to remain relevant.

While balancing contemporary use with historical integrity is challenging, examples like the adaptive reuse of the Former Mounted Police Stables by Kerstin Thompson Architects, the Stables at the Alfred Hospital by Architects EAT (led by Albert Mo), and of Jack’s Magazine, a former gunpowder storage facility highlight how this is best achieved and result in the reinvigoration of the place.

To learn more about Utsushi in practice, follow the link in our bio 🔗

#adaptivereuse #heritagearchitecture #utsushi #sustainablearchitecture

@kerstin_thompson_architects @albertmoarchitects

In 1984, legendary street artist Keith Haring left his mark on Melbourne, creating a bold and dynamic mural on the walls of Collingwood Technical School. Completed in just one day, this vibrant artwork—featuring Haring’s signature dancing figures, caterpillars, and computers—embodied his vision of making art accessible to all and was a foremost piece of public artwork in the country. The Collingwood mural is one of three, and the largest of these, projects Haring undertook in Melbourne during his three week stay. Only 31 known public murals by Haring survive worldwide and the sole example surviving in Australia, is a landmark of 1980s street art and was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2004.
After three decades of UV exposure, the inherently short lifespan of the acrylic paint resulted in the deterioration of the pigments, but to varying degrees in each colour (the yellow base with red and green characters).
Thanks to a dedicated conservation efforts by rba, Arts Victoria (now Creative Victoria), the Keith Haring Foundation, the City of Yarra and others as well as previous interventions by Andrew Thorn, the mural was carefully conserved by Italian specialists, led by Antonio Rava, in 2013. Now a treasured landmark and the only surviving Haring mural in Australia, it continues to celebrate his legacy and the power of public art.

To find out more, read the link in our bio

#keithharing #melbournearchitecture #melbournestreetart

St James Old Cathedral, now at the corner of King and Batman Streets, is the oldest church in Melbourne. Originally established on a five-acre site at Bourke and William Streets in 1837, it began as a timber structure before being replaced by a Georgian/Regency style stone building, designed by Robert Russell. It is a rare example of the style in Melbourne that is more common in NSW and Tasmania because it is generally associated with the decades before Victoria’s colonisation.

The foundation stone was laid in 1839 by Gov. Charles Joseph La Trobe, with construction undertaken in two stages. Charles Laing completed the work after disputes over the design led to Russell’s replacement. The unfinished church opened for worship in 1842 and in 1847 became Melbourne’s first Anglican Cathedral after it was proclaimed a city.

After the opening of the larger St Paul’s in Flinders Street in 1891, the cathedral status was transferred from St James. Struggling with a dwindling congregation, maintenance issues, and urban development pressures, St James narrowly avoided demolition after being condemned in 1912. Instead, it was painstakingly dismantled and relocated stone by stone and reconstructed at its current site in West Melbourne, reopening in 1914 with a remodelled tower and other modifications.

In 2009, after many years of neglect and several dangerous spalling events, urgent stone repairs were initiated to the tower. To secure funding, rba prepared a CMP and conducted thorough investigations into the condition and provenance of the stone masonry which guided the repair works.

These investigations revealed five types of stone: basalt and four types of sandstone. The walls were constructed principally of ferruginous sandstone, notable for its reddish-brown hue caused by high mica content. This unusual stone is thought to have been quarried near the Maribyrnong River in Ascot Vale. St James is only one of two surviving examples in Melbourne to be constructed of ferruginised sandstone.

The finished work, completed in 2012, embodies a core tenant of our heritage conservation practice: doing as much as necessary and as little as possible.

In celebration of peace, joy, and eternal love this holiday season, wishing you all happy holidays and a wonderful new year!

Please note that our office will be closed from the 23rd December 2023, to the 6th of January 2024.

Pictured: Springthorpe Memorial, designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear, 1897 (VHR no. H0522)
Image Credit: Peter Bennetts, 2024

2024 has been another remarkable year for RBA. In addition to a wide and interesting array of projects and sites, we also celebrated 30 years of built heritage conservation.
The trialling and integration of new and emerging digital technologies, such as AI, Point Cloud, Photogrammetry, BIM, dynamic multidimensional databases, and GIS has been critical and influential to our workplace this year.
2025 will continue this momentum with projects starting or continuing on site, including adaptive reuse of Doherty’s Ruin into a café, relocation of the imposing timber framed Werribee aircraft hangar, seismic strengthening of the Highett Gasworks chimney, and reconstruction of Malmsbury Railway Station, following a fire. We are commencing several residential concept designs, work at the Melbourne Town Hall and at the University of Melbourne, upgrading of a group of historic cast iron toilets and continuing our work at Wilsons Promontory Light station.
Heritage reviews for Alpine Shire and the City of Wodonga, alongside assessments in Ballarat and Geelong, ensure that culturally significant places continue to be recognised and protected. Conservation Management Plans for Kuring-Gai, Doherty’s Ruin and Hambleton House, provide the research and management policies to guide responsive architectural proposals by rba and others.
Continued growth and learning are a core RBA value. Ashleigh expanded her expertise in materials conservation at the Longford Academy, while Phillipa was accepted into the prestigious Getty Institute’s Course on the Conservation of Modern Heritage. Paula trialled innovative Life Cycle Assessment technologies to enhance sustainable design outcomes, and Chami expanded her GIS mapping skills.
Our completion of the draft of our Reconciliation Action Plan marks a significant step in our commitment to reconciliation. And we recently announced the launch of our new website www.rbaarchitects.com.au
As we celebrate these milestones, we recognise our team’s dedication, innovation, and passion and look forward to the challenges, learnings, and successes to come.

In 2008, RBA conducted an independent peer review for the City of Boroondara, located within the land of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people, assessing 21 properties facing objections to proposed heritage controls.
The amendment to apply these controls aimed to provide heritage protections to 207 properties
altogether, recommended in earlier studies from the 1990s, that had not yet been implemented. Council received 22 objections during the amendment’s exhibition period, prompting the need for an independent review of 21 specific properties. RBA’s task involved reviewing the previous research and citations and detailed site inspections to evaluate the integrity, intactness and heritage value of each site.
The review revealed that 19 of the properties were in excellent condition and retained much of their original features, showcasing styles from the Victorian to postwar periods, each
contributing a distinct architectural character to the municipality.
Among the noteworthy examples was a house on Holroyd Street, Kew, an unusually late example of the Streamlined Moderne style. This house was constructed during the latter years of World War II, a period when building activity was heavily restricted, making such examples exceptionally rare.
Another significant property was the now celebrated 1960s modernist house on Studley Park Road, Kew, designed by architect Theodore Berman, who is better known for his Featurist-style commercial buildings. This residence stands out as an example of Berman’s purer approach to modernism, showcasing clean, functional lines distinct from his commercial works.
A rare Mediterranean-style house located on Bradford Avenue, Kew, was identified as significant, with few comparable examples in Melbourne, making it a unique element of the
area’s architectural diversity.
Peer reviews provide a valuable opportunity to critically reassess heritage evaluation methods
and help bridge the gap between heritage professionals and the public. RBA’s review ultimately supported heritage protections for 19 properties, and the majority of these recommendations were endorsed by the review panel, leading to their inclusion in the Heritage Overlay.

In 2007, the Shire of Strathbogie commissioned RBA Architects to conduct a heritage study to identify and assess culturally significant sites across this northeastern Victorian region. Prior to the study, only 29 individual sites within the shire had heritage protections, leaving many significant locations unrecognised and vulnerable. The study unfolded in two stages: the first involved drafting a thematic history of the shire and identifying sites of potential heritage value, while the second stage entailed a detailed assessment of these sites for possible inclusion in the Heritage Overlay schedule.

The Shire of Strathbogie is located in northeastern Victoria on the traditional lands of the Taungurung people and is named after the Strathbogie Ranges to its east. Following colonisation, the shire’s development, influenced by its location along the Hume Highway, centred around agriculture and the timber industry.

Community consultation was integral to the study, ensuring that the identified sites held local cultural value. Through this collaboration, RBA identified over 750 places of potential heritage significance, with 55 individual places ultimately granted heritage protection in 2017 based on the findings and recommendations from Stage 2 of the study. An additional 9 precincts were recommended, but were removed from Amendment C04.

Among the sites assessed in the study are notable examples of Strathbogie’s historical infrastructure and rural architecture. The Mt Hut (or Mountain Hutt) Weir, built around 1890, is the region’s first major weir and one of Victoria’s earliest concrete dams. It remains remarkably intact and continues to function as a water source despite its proximity to the larger GA Waterhouse Reservoir.

At Baldavin Park homestead, an early timber outbuilding—possibly dating to the 1870s during the property’s original lease by Jim Moreley—retains its original timber shingles, making it a rare, well-preserved structure. Similarly, Balmattum School No. 743, used from 1885 to 1950, remains intact with an attached residence, exemplifying the modest, utilitarian design of late 19th-century rural schools.

One of the highlights of 2006, in addition to celebrating daughter Arabella’s 1st birthday, was the almost completion of a 10 year program of conservation works to the facades at the South Melbourne Town Hall. The façades had been neglected for a long time, including the c.1970s short sighted application of cement rich ‘bagging’ paint to disguise underlying accumulated defects. Our painstaking work began through forensic analysis with a materials scientist of the wee skerricks of the original coloured skim coat which we discovered under the cornice, and the subsequent development, including sampling and aging and weathering in situ over 2 years, of a suitable replacement skim coat and conservation approach to its reinstatement.
We then wholistically stabilised and secured the many damaged pressed cement decorative components, designed and reinstalled new decorative pressed cement urns to the parapets and researched, detailed, manufactured and reinstated the critical original pair of mansard roof elements.
The VHR listed South Melbourne Town Hall sits atop Emerald Hill, a significant Indigenous site that was a traditional gathering place for the Kulin Nation prior to European colonisation and the forcible displacement of the Traditional Owners beginning in the 1830s. The 1875 watercolour ‘Corroboree at Emerald Hill’ depicts a ceremony observed by Europeans in the 1840s and was painted 5 years before the completion of the hall on that same site in 1880.
Designed by architect Charles Webb, South Melbourne Town Hall is a prime example of Victorian Academic Classical style with French Second Empire influences. Its architectural significance is showcased in the grand Bank Street façade, central portico, Corinthian colonnade, and prominent cupola-topped tower.
The works received high praise, winning the prestigious AIA John George Knight Award for Heritage Architecture with the jury chair, architect Roger Poole, then of Bates Smart, observing the following:
‘This is a very fine example of work of a well-established specialist architectural practice. The project is a paradigm of thoughtful and appropriate restoration which merits careful study and wider recognition’

Travertine, a terrestrial limestone often mistaken for marble, is a sedimentary rock formed through the precipitation of calcium carbonate from surface and groundwater, particularly around springs, rivers, and lakes. Its name derives from the Italian ‘travertino,’ rooted in the Latin ‘tiburtinus,’ referring to the ancient town of Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) near Rome. Tivoli has been a major source of travertine since at least 75 BC, with stone from the region used in constructing many of Rome’s monumental buildings. Among these, the Colosseum stands as the largest structure primarily built with travertine, symbolizing the stone’s integral role in Roman architectural heritage.

Valued for its high porosity, strength, and excellent thermal and acoustic insulation, travertine is also prized for its ability to achieve a polished finish, making it a favoured material in both decorative and architectural applications. In Melbourne, its use became prominent during the interwar period, notably in Marcus Barlow’s 1939 Century Building (H2250) on Swanston Street, where travertine serves as a distinctive element of the design.

Today, travertine remains a frequently used material in contemporary architecture, with major quarries located in Turkey, Italy, and Mexico. One of the best-known contemporary examples of its use can be found in Richard Meier’s design of the Getty Institute in Los Angeles (1997). Clad in Italian travertine sourced from a quarry in Tivoli, the Getty’s extensive use of the stone—16,000 tons in total—serves as a deliberate homage to classical architecture. The Mariotti family, who operated the quarry, insisted that the stone be left rough-faced, reminiscent of ancient construction methods. Meier’s use of travertine not only evokes a connection to the architectural past but also conveys a sense of permanence and durability.

Cover - Getty Museum - Travertine Walls
Image 3 - Mammoth Terraces, Yellowstone, Frank Schulenburg, 2016
Image 4 - Roman Colosseum, Kurt Kaiser, 2019
Image 5 - Barcelona Pavilion, Christian Gänshirt, 2012
Image 6 - Century Building, Vicscreen
Image 7 - Getty Institute, Reed College, 2000
Image 8 - Museum Courtyard, Reed College, 2000

Scarfed joints have been a part of the woodworking tradition for thousands of years, playing a crucial role in the development of carpentry and shipbuilding, as well as architectural conservation.

Scarfing refers to the complex, keyed, overlapping joining of two shorter timbers to form a longer, seamless member of enhanced structural integrity, by evenly distributing compressive, tensile, and shear forces along the joint's length, making it stronger and more resilient than a simple butt joint.

Scarf joints have been an essential part of shipbuilding tradition dating back to ancient times. During the Age of Exploration (15th–17th centuries), the demand for larger and more robust ships led to significant advancements in scarf joint techniques. Complex variations like keyed-hook and pegged scarfs were developed to endure longer and more arduous voyages across vast oceans.

Scarf joints were also influential in the development of larger buildings. Evidence of their historic use is particularly prominent in surviving Medieval European buildings, such as the 14th century Church of St Martin in Essex.

In the heritage industry, scarf joints are crucial for conserving historic timber structures, where repair rather than wholesale replacement is always preferred. For example, at Little River Railway Station and Darbyshire Creek Bridge No. 2, traditional scarf joints were employed to repair deteriorated sections of timber beams. This method allowed much of the original material to be retained while ensuring the stability of the structures.

In contrast, and disappointingly, at Wycheproof Railway Station, the repaired verandah posts were found cut horizontally, and new timber was improperly butt joined without using a scarf joint. As a result, the post lacked the integrity to resist the forces imposed on it and the repair failed.

Image 3 – Darbyshire Creek Bridge No. 2
Image 4 – Khufu Ship, c.2500 BC
Image 5 – Nave of Church of St Martin, English Historic Carpentry
Image 6 – Little River Railway Station
Image 7 – Wycheproof Railway Station

In 2005, the Shepparton Showgrounds underwent a significant redevelopment. The project began with a comprehensive assessment to identify the heritage values of the site, resulting in the preparation of a Conservation Management Plan by RBA as part of a broader Master Plan. The work resulted in the site, which prior to had no heritage recognition or protection, being included in the local heritage overlay.
The Showgrounds are an integral part of the local community, hosting the annual Shepparton Agricultural Show, a celebration of country living and Australian identity. Agricultural showgrounds like Shepparton’s have historically been places where the latest agricultural practices and technologies are showcased. The innovative local company Furphy’s, known for designing farm machinery, displayed their products at these showgrounds.
The first Shepparton Agricultural Show, organized by the Shepparton Agricultural Society, took place in 1877. Since 1889, the show has run continuously from the site (except in WWII when it was used as a recruiting and training depot) and expanded over the following century to become one of the most extensive groups of showground buildings in Victoria. The showgrounds now comprise approximately 10 hectares with a large central arena.
One of the key components of the redevelopment was the complex task of relocating the 400-seat timber grandstand within the site. The undertaking required the structure to be reinforced with steel prior to being lifted off its site onto the bed of a truck for its relocation.
The grandstand, dating back to the 1890s, is one of the few surviving and largest examples of its type in rural Victoria. It is the earliest extant building on the site, having been moved from the Shepparton racecourse in 1898.
Additional works included conserving the interwar Cattlemen’s Bar and livestock display shed and the construction of a new multipurpose extension to the shed designed to host agricultural industry events year-round.
Collectively, these works were vital in ensuring the continued economic success of the showgrounds. Today, it remains an important part of the local Shepparton community and broader regional area.

In c. 2001 RBA was tasked with reviewing the proposed redevelopment of a non descript site in South Melbourne. It was in a broad heritage overlay but had no individual recognition and was slated for demolition. The house, with its concrete-rendered walls and aluminium-framed windows and corrugated sheet metal roof, was in a very poor condition.
However, during RBA's due diligence investigation, supported by Emeritus Prof Miles Lewis AM FAHA* from Melbourne University, this unassuming house was revealed as a very rare example of a mid-19th century prefabricated house imported from Singapore and this then led to its inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Although its form resembles common European housing types, it is actually an adaptation of a traditional Malay house (referred to as a ‘Singapore Cottage) and features traditional Chinese carpentry techniques. It was designed to meet the housing demands of Melbourne (and San Francisco) where many new arrivals to the gold rush, which was in full swing, were only able to access canvas tents. It stands as a surviving example of prefabricated housing from this period and is the only known example of its type in the world to remain on its original site.
In 2004, RBA conducted further investigations and developed a CMP. This guided a series of detailed conservation works beginning with the careful peeling away of the concrete render and detailed repairs to the remnant timber structure and external and internal claddings.
Lab analysis confirmed the timber species (Malaysian hardwoods) and the noted historic wallpaper specialist, Phyllis Murphy, assessed the multiple layers of intriguing 19th c. wallpaper fragments, of which two types were recreated in the restoration.
Finally, the site was adapted for use as a family residence, with JAM Architects designing a sympathetic rear addition.
The project won both the AIA John George Knight Award for Heritage Architecture and the Port Phillip Design and Development Award for Best Heritage Redevelopment.
* Lewis is part of a World Heritage task force currently proposing a group listing of 114 nineteenth century portable buildings in Australia including Singapore Cottage.

This Saturday 27 July, RBA director Roger Beeston will be presenting the award-winning façade conservation works at Prahran Arcade as part of Open House Melbourne.

Roger founded RBA 30 years ago in 1994, and the practice has evolved into a diverse cultural heritage management team consisting of specialist architects, conservation technicians, heritage planners, architectural historians, interpretation professionals and, latterly, digital heritage specialists.

Throughout his career Roger has continually engaged with the fields of both contemporary architecture and heritage management. In doing so, he has acquired detailed expertise in traditional and contemporary building technologies, allowing him to develop authentic and sustainable remedial conservation interventions. Where many see a statutory heritage listing as an obstacle or impediment to the pursuit of a contemporary way of life, we recognise it as an opportunity to capture social and historical value and to activate deeper cultural potential.

At Prahran Arcade, this positive engagement with the heritage management approach has been enthusiastically adopted by the owners, contractors and consultants. The project exemplifies the value RBA attaches to forensic, evidence-based conservation practice, in which material analysis and respect for multilayered stories guide the approach.

More information available at the link in our bio.

#openhousemelbourne
#openhousemelbourne2024
#rediscoveryourcity

The Towong Shire Heritage Study, commenced in 2003 by RBA, was the first comprehensive heritage investigation of Towong Shire. Located along the NSW border in the Southern Alps, the shire is rich in historical sites related to early European settlement, squatting, selection, and mining. It is one of the least populated areas in Victoria, which has helped preserve its distinct heritage.

Stage 1 of the work, the thematic history, outlined the physical development of the landscape and settlement of the region. The area was first inhabited by indigenous groups, including the Duduroa dhargal, Waveroo, Way-wurru, Wiradjuri, Ngarigo, Yaithmathang, and Jaitmathang. Historically, these groups engaged in social contact, trade, and shared ceremonies, with traces of their presence found even in secluded places. They maintain a continuing connection to the land as its traditional custodians.

Stage 2 identified a range of significant heritage places, including numerous homesteads, some with early outbuildings, religious buildings, industrial sites (such as butter factories), local halls and hotels (often a signifier of former settlements). In total, 89 places were added to the Heritage Overlay, including two precincts: new Tallangatta and the Railway Reserve.

Towong also boasts a notable collection of mining relics preserved to a degree not seen elsewhere in Victoria. Most were already included on the included on the VHR except for the smelting works at Bethanga. The site’s purple calcined sand, a byproduct of the smelting process, is a surreal feature of the landscape.
Also unique are the considerable proportion of surviving timber slab buildings, such as the Walwa Homestead (ca.1850), constructed from locally hand-hewn timbers and hand-forged nails. While the town of Tallangatta is historically significant for being the first town relocated in the state (and possibly the nation), serving as an intact example of mid-20th-century town planning in rural Victoria.

A number of timber trestle bridges were also identified, such as the unusually curved Darbyshire Creek bridge no 2, and were listed as part of the Railway Reserve Precinct for their technological significance.

In 2002, RBA undertook an extensive project at the Mission to Seafarers building located on Wurundjeri land in
Docklands along the Birrarrung (Yarra River). This building, constructed between 1916-17, replaced an earlier
mission building from 1907 and was designed by Walter Richmond Butler, the architect to the Anglican Diocese in Melbourne. The building is an eclectic mix of Spanish Mission and Arts & Crafts styles and comprises a complex of structures including the St Peter the Mariner Chapel, an internal courtyard and loggia, a main hall and lobby, a Chaplain’s house, a small cottage, and the Norla Dome.

The building’s interior is rich with maritime imagery and architectural details. The chapel features a timber truss roof and finely crafted joinery, including an altar and sanctuary chairs adorned with carved Australian flora motifs. Stained glass windows depict maritime stories and scenes, and other nautical elements include a ship’s stern pulpit, a large mariner’s compass inlaid in the lobby’s terrazzo floor, and a copper ship finial on the roof.

The conservation works focused on external restoration, particularly addressing the building’s roof and facades, which were in dire need of repair due to concrete cancer. The dome, a remarkable example of early reinforced concrete engineering, required specialized remedial treatments to its concrete and steel substrate. This space, originally a gymnasium, has since been repurposed as a temporary exhibition space and recording studio.

In addition to these physical restorations, RBA also developed a Master Plan and a Conservation Management Plan to guide the ongoing preservation and adaptive reuse of the site. While the Mission continues to serve visiting sailors,
it has also expanded to accommodate community activities. The building remains historically significant as one of the last purpose-built institutes for seafarers in Melbourne.

As travellers of Australia's historical and cultural landscapes, our awareness and appreciation of the experiences, resilience, and vitality of First Nation people ever grows. This year's NAIDOC theme — 'Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud' — resonates with our increasing efforts to more explicitly centre Aboriginal peoples and their Country within the fabric of our projects, where appropriate. This aim is complicated, as we so often seek to conserve and work with the assembled edifices and legacy of colonisation. However, in unpacking and confronting this reality, we actively seek pathways to move beyond a binary position on this front. By engaging in truth-telling and seeking to explore First Nation responses (then and now) to this built environment and highlighting where the newcomers learnt from and adapted to Country, we aspire to a more nuanced understanding of the past in the present.

Fortuitously, coinciding with NAIDOC week, RBA will be seeking the endorsement of its inaugural Reflect RAP from Reconciliation Australia. We are very proud of this document and the dialogue it has initiated internally and within our network. Based on its development journey to date, the RAP will prove a profoundly influential plan of action for RBA.

The RAP’s cover illustration, prepared by staff member Margaret Nicoll, which we share in this post, is the Ngargee (ceremony) tree, located across the road from our St Kilda office. This red gum is believed to be the oldest living organism in the Port Phillip area and is significant to the Yaluk-ut Weelam clan of Boonwurrung people. Notably, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal activists have operated, together and separately, over the past few decades to ensure its survival.

While our RAP is fresh, RBA have been engaged in First Nations culture research and celebration for a long time. For example, in 2005 we developed a CMP for the Bangarang Cultural Centre in Shepparton, the first Indigenous-managed cultural centre in Australia and designed collaboratively with Frederick Romberg.

Maryborough Railway Station, constructed 1890-92, is a VHR listed site (H1577) of architectural and historical significance.

Located on Dja Dja Wurrung land in the central Victorian goldfields, the red brick building, likely designed by Phillip Kennedy of the Railways Dept, contains elements of both the Queen Anne and Anglo-Dutch styles including Dutch gable roofs, tall faceted chimneys, cement dressings, and large portico.

The completed station featured an impressive 25 rooms, a clock tower, and the longest platform in country Victoria. Mark Twain famously described it in 1895 as a "station with a town attached," highlighting its grandeur and scale.

RBA’s involvement began in 2001 at a time when long-term maintenance neglect and inappropriate repair works were threatening the site's cultural significance and usability.

The conservation project, led by RBA, involved extensive research and forensic surveys to understand and address the building's deterioration. A range of experts, including a materials scientist, heritage structural engineer, and glass and ceramic conservator collaborated to develop innovative, sensitive and durable conservation approaches.

Identification and reinstatement of the original 19thc. colour scheme was a key part of the project. New techniques were adopted which saw the careful removal of later inappropriate paint layers from the originally unpainted render, its careful forensic analysis, and its reinstatement using traditional materials including lime and stone and brick dust. The materials scientist revealed the original render to contain both ‘fools gold’ and ox blood, both of which were unavailable. Additional investigation of the metal and timber elements identified their original colours to include deep reds and golds.

The restoration work was managed in three stages over ten years, allowing passenger services to resume upon completion. The project was highly regarded, earning RBA the API Award for Heritage Projects, the AIA Victoria Architecture Award for Heritage Architecture, and the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

By the year 2000, RBA was garnering a positive reputation as a heritage practice. That year, we were engaged to undertake conservation and adaptation of the state listed Hawthorn Tram Depot as a museum and residential apartment complex.

Located at the junction of Wallen Road and Power Street, the Hawthorn Tram Depot is a highly significant vestige of the formative period of Melbourne’s tram network.

The depot officially opened in 1916 and was commissioned by the Hawthorn Tramways Trust, one of five municipal tramway trusts established to develop and expand electric tramways outside of Melbourne's inner city.

The depot replaced the older Hawthorn Horse Tramway and was designed by Leonard Flannagan in the American Romanesque style. The three-storey brick building originally housed offices, amenities, and an electric substation with a four-road tram shed behind it. In 1917, the depot was expanded with an additional three-road tram shed and a basement workshop designed by the firm Sydney Smith and Ogg.

The Hawthorn Tram Depot ceased operations in 1965 due to a decline in passengers. The depot was included in the Victorian Heritage Register in 1996 in recognition of being the most intact and unaltered tram depot from period of cable tramways.

RBA oversaw the design and adaptation of Tram Shed No. 1, the original 1916 four-track shed, which was to become the Melbourne Tram Museum. The museum houses the state’s historic tram fleet and displays objects related to the history of Melbourne’s tram network. As part of these works, RBA restored the original facades of the two tram sheds and restoration of the interior.

RBA also provided advice on the design of the residential development to the rear of the depot, which was designed by Tzannes Associates.

Rustication is a decorative masonry technique characterized by exaggerated joints sometimes with rough or coarse surfaces. Examples of rusticated blockwork can be found in ancient Rome, but the intentional application of it as a decorative treatment emerged during the Renaissance. In this period, particularly in palazzo design, rustication was employed to emphasize the ground floor’s status as a transition from the street. Typically, the ground level featured rusticated stonework, while the upper levels or ‘piano nobile’ used smooth ashlar.

Symbolically, rustication embodies a sense of stability, strength, and permanence. It was also seen as an ‘honest’ or ‘natural’ style, which made it a popular choice in garden villa designs during the 16th and 17th centuries. The coarse appearance of rustication created a striking visual contrast with the more refined architectural elements of the popular Mannerist and Baroque styles of this period.

Rustication also developed several variations, including banded, diamond, prismatic, and vermiculated patterns. These variations added decorative complexity and were used to achieve different visual effects. Banded rustication features continuous horizontal grooves, while diamond rustication presents a pattern resembling cut diamonds. Prismatic rustication involves facets that create a three-dimensional effect, and vermiculated rustication mimics the appearance of worm tracks on the stone’s surface.

In modern architecture, although less common, rustication is still employed for its decorative qualities, ability to provide visual contrast, and its symbolic effect.

2. Prahran Arcade, RBA
3. Rustication. Francis Ching. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture, p158.
4. Prahran Arcade, RBA
5. Scottish House, RBA
6. 2 View Street Bendigo, RBA

Wilsons Promontory Lightstation is situated on a remote peninsula at the southernmost tip of mainland Australia and is part of the Wilsons Promontory National Park. Since time in memorial, the area has been cared for and occupied by the Boonwurung, Bunuron and Gunaikurnai people. The first European sighting was by George Bass in 1798 during an expedition to confirm the existence of a passage between Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) and the mainland.

The lightstation was built following an 1856 conference aimed at ensuring safe passage through the Bass Strait. Construction took place between 1853 and 1859, using convict labor and locally sourced granite. The design was overseen by Charles Maplestone of the Public Works Department, a specialist lighthouse architect responsible for all of Victoria’s lightstations from 1856 to 1861. Extant buildings from this period include the rock-faced tower, head lightkeeper’s quarters, and associated stone walls.

The lighthouse has been automated but remains active. The majority of the buildings in the complex reflect this historic and ongoing use, but the site has also served various other purposes. During WWII, it functioned as a radar station and today, it is an important location for the Bureau of Meteorology to study weather patterns and is also a popular tourist attraction.

The place is of national heritage significance and is included on the Commonwealth Heritage List. The station buildings are primarily managed by Parks Victoria except for the lighthouse, which remains in operation under the Maritime Safety Authority.

RBA Architects' relationship with Wilsons Promontory and nearby Gabo Island Lightstations began in 1999. At Wilsons Prom, we were tasked with revising the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) and conserving the head keeper’s quarters, which was in a dilapidated state. These quarters, along with the lighthouse, are highly significant as the only original structures to survive the devastating 1951 bushfires.

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Fittingly, the term "quoin" originates from the Latin word "coinus," meaning "corner." Quoins are the cornerstone blocks of a building’s walls, typically arranged in a method known as toothing, which alternates long and short edges. Often, the colours, materials, and patterns are chosen or designed to contrast with the surrounding walls, creating a unique visual effect.

Originally, the primary function of quoins was structural rather than decorative. Ancient builders discovered that the corners of buildings needed extra support to bear the load, especially when constructed with inferior stone or cobbles. The earliest reference to quoining can be found in De Architectura, written between 30-20BC by Roman architect Vitruvius who advocated for its use “in order to prevent the walls from settling and to hold the parts together.”

During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, there was a revived interest in Classical architecture, and with it, new techniques such as rustication and vermiculation were introduced, emphasizing the decorative qualities of quoining. This trend continued into the 18th and 19th centuries, but by the end of this period, new construction methods reduced the need for quoining as a structural element.

Today, quoins are still used in contemporary architecture as a symbol of tradition and quality. For example, architect Roger Beeston incorporated prominent quoins into the design of classrooms at Clonard College in Geelong, drawing inspiration from the nearby 1850s Clonard House. This modern application highlights the enduring appeal and decorative potential of quoining in building design.

Images
Cover. Specimen Cottage, RBA
2. Armytage House, RBA
3. Quoin. Francis Ching. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture, p158.
5. Tacoma, RBA
6. Clonard House, RBA
7. Clonard House, RBA
8. Our Story: Arrival of Brigidine Sisters,1956, Clonard College.

The conservation works recently completed at the former College Church, Parkville, embody one of our key purposes at rba – connecting people to place.

The achievements of this project have recently been recognised by its inclusion in the 2024 AIA Victorian Architecture Awards Shortlist for Heritage Architecture.
Principal of rba’s Architecture and Conservation Team, Phillipa Hall, shares its story with you - see the link in bio for the full article.

Image: @peterbbennetts

The Ritz Mansions are a truly cosmopolitan example of St Kilda’s interwar architecture and of local significance to the City of Port Phillip. Designed by the architect Ernest H. Long for Levine Investments in 1927, the four-story building was the largest apartment block built during this period. These mansion-style apartments catered to the upper classes as a modern residential alternative, reflecting a broader trend towards higher-density living during the early 20th century.

The building’s name, ‘Ritz Mansions,’ is prominently displayed in relief gilded lettering over the entrance doors, above which are featured oriel bay windows and stacked balustraded balconies. Originally, the building showcased ‘blood and bandage’ brickwork with rendered bands, but subsequent alterations saw the front façade fully rendered and other changes including the replacement of entrance steps and doors and introduction of shopfronts. Internally, the building still boasts interwar features such as the moulded cornices and the distinctive copper detailed lift.

By the 1990s, the building had fallen into disrepair, and in 1998 the local council issued a notice to the owners, citing non-compliance with safety standards, structural issues such as concrete cancer, and the absence of fire doors. Tenants were informed that they would need to vacate the premises.

RBA Architects were engaged at this point with the task of restoring the mansions and bringing them up to code to avoid the impending evacuation which, after a massive building restoration program, was achieved.

As a result of our newly acquired deep familiarity with the Ritz, we decided to move in and have been operating from here since 2000 and continue to do so.

Image Captions
1. Ritz Mansions, 171 Fitzroy Street, St. Kilda. Sievers, Wolfgang. 1951. SLV
2. Aerial views looking south and south west over Albert Park Lake, Victoria. Airspy. 1953. SLV
3. Fitzroy Street, St. Kilda. Disney, Elizabeth. 1989. SLV
4. Painting and Repairs. RBA. 2017
5. RBA Office. RBA. 2024
6. Ritz Elevator. RBA. 1998
7. Ritz Elevator. RBA. 2024
8. Ritz Rear. RBA. 2024

After surviving the initial 3 years in practice, we began finding a toe hold in what was then a very niche sector. Consisting of just Roger +1 other employee, Nico Kelly, the firm was located in the vast store/packing room of a cutting-edge commercial art gallery (Karen Lovegrove) in the Love and Lewis building on Chapel Street, Prahran.

After completing a series of CMPs for Victoria’s historic gaols in 1996, by 1997 we had expanded our oeuvre considerably, being appointed as Club Architect at The Australian Club undertaking research into the leaning tower of the Port Melbourne Town Hall and conservation works to one of the finest historic shop fronts on the VHR, the state listed Brinsmead Pharmacy in Ripponlea.

Brinsmead Pharmacy, part of a striking pair of Federation-era shops designed by architects Sydney Smith & Ogg, first opened in 1913. The shop is a highly intact and rare example of its type, and arguably the best example of its kind in Victoria.

It features mirrored display cases, oak joinery, and extensive leadlighting, all crafted by the renowned shopfitters Thomas Duff & Bros whose signature is borne on one of the building’s nameplates.

The ‘Duff’ nameplate is among a collection of signs adorning the building including those for Brinsmead, which can be found spelled out in the tiled entryway and partly visible as a ghost sign to the building’s upper storey gable. Incongruously, the Brinsmead family was never associated with the building. The first owner, Frederick Damyon, purchased the nearby Brinsmead Pharmacy before constructing the extant premises, and kept the name possibly because it was well regarded locally.

Images 1-4: Brinsmead Pharmacy
Images 5-6: Love and Lewis, Chapel Street

This Friday, May 24th, is opening night for South Space, an exhibition celebrating architects and practices, both past and present, from Melbourne’s South.

RBA is pleased to be involved with this esteemed group and we look forward to sharing one of our seminal projects, Doherty’s Ruin in Tarneit. This project considers the changing identity of place, from a cultural landscape to sprawling urban development, and how we can best engage with these layers to bring forward a rare historic and architectural palimpsest.

Part of the Melbourne Design Week, South Space explores the continuing legacy of architects practicing in Melbourne’s south both past and present. It studies the relationships of these practices to each other and their context. The exhibition traces the principles that govern their design ethos and explores the drivers that empower their work.

Collaborators include: Bird de la Coeur, Blight, Blight & Blight, Brearly Architects and Urbanists, Coy Yiontis, Grant Amon, Lucy Clemenger, Maria Danos, Nervegna Reed, OOF! Architects, RBA Architects + Conservation Consultants, Coco & Richard Swansson, Sally Draper, Searle x Waldron Architecture, and Susi Leeton and @mcbridecharlesryan

Link to the event in bio.

The urban landscapes that we experience can be viewed as an inherited palimpsest—a transcendent word that denotes the intermixed and superimposed layers in the built environment and their ongoing accumulation.

Palimpsest (palɪm(p)sɛst) derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek word pálin—meaning ‘again.’ It refers to the practice of reusing a wax-coated tablet or any writing surface, resulting in an often-intricate series of effacements and combinations.

The parallels between such interlaying of text and how places can evolve have rendered the application of ‘the palimpsest’ as an innovative lens for approaching the historic environment—broadening conceptions of value beyond the 'first' or most pronounced development phase.

RBA founder Roger Beeston argued in his paper titled 'Marvellous Melbourne' Under Pressure: Preserving the Palimpsest' that the safeguarding and enhancing of legibility of all these layers should guide place-making and conservation practice.

Two RBA projects particularly demonstrate the value of this approach: the adaptive reuse of Doherty’s Ruin allows the varied modifications of the site, including evidence of human occupation by the Bunrong people for millennia, to become equally visible and equally celebrated. At Singapore Cottage, the later accumulated layers required careful ‘peeling back’ to reveal earlier incarnations, which could then be integrated into a new phase of use.

To this end, mindfulness of the palimpsest concept invites provocation, particularly for the heritage practitioner, as it proffers a path beyond a fixation on the ‘original’ physical form. Its consideration leads to the more complex and nuanced domain of unpacking the stratigraphy and encryptions imbedded in significant places.

In a settler society like Australia, this approach—encouraging acknowledgement and respect for overlaid but not extinguished layers—is a vital component of caring for Country.

1. Doherty’s Ruin, Tarneit
2. Singapore Cottage, South Melbourne
3. 6th Century Palimpsest, Guelferbytanus A
4. Doherty’s Ruin, Tarneit
5. Singapore Cottage, South Melbourne

Our team’s passion for heritage was on full display this week as they trekked across the Victorian high country to conduct site visits for the Alpine Shire heritage review. The shire is not only home to some of Victoria’s most spectacular views and historic landscapes, but also an impressive array of heritage places.

The Victorian high country forms the southwestern half of the Australian Alps, the tallest mountain range in Australia. Included on the National Heritage List, the Alps are an important and rare example of an alpine ecosystem within our largely flat, dry continent.

The mountains hold enormous significance for the people who have and continue to live there. In Victoria, the Alps are culturally and spiritually significant to the Dhudhuroa, Gunai-Kurnai, Taungurung, Wayrurru, and Jaithmathang, the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land. Traditionally, the Alps served as an important gathering place, site for harvesting and feasting on Bogong moths, and marked the central point where it was believed wooden pillars held up the sky. Along with these stories and memories, scarred trees, stone quarries, ceremonial grounds, rock art, and shelters also provide evidence of Aboriginal presence and use of the land dating back to time immemorial.

After colonisation in the 1830s, the Alps became valuable grazing lands for stock and are an important part of Australia’s pastoral history featured in poems like Banjo Patterson’s The Man from Snowy River. The stockmen’s huts and wild brumbies serve as tangible reminders of this history.

From the 1860s onwards, the Alps became a major area for snow sports and other forms of recreation with tourism becoming an important source of income for many locals. To meet the needs of visitors, new infrastructure was constructed along the peaks including snow poles, shelters, and chalets.

RBA is privileged to be able to contribute to the architectural and historic understanding of these significant places and to their ongoing conservation.

1. The Horn Lookout Shelter
2. Hiking the Razorback
3. Alpine Shire
4. Cope Hut, Cope Hut Track
5. MUMC Memorial Hut
6. Mt. Bogong from Tawonga

Victoria is home to eight significant mid 19th century goals. By the mid 1990s, these previously state of the art complexes were redundant, requiring replacement. They were however deemed of state heritage significance and their future required careful management.

Roger, along with fellow heritage consultant Bryce Raworth, was tasked with researching and assisting with the future management of six of these sites at Ararat, Bendigo, Castlemaine, Geelong, Melbourne, and Pentridge.

The murder of the notorious Inspector-General of Penal Settlements in the Colony of Victoria, John Price in 1857, instigated the need for reforms in prisoner treatment and saw the introduction of a new model of gaol design imported from Britain.

The debate about prisoner treatment in Britain had been ongoing for more than a century prior to Price’s death and saw public attitudes turn against the use of corporal punishment. This led to several developments in gaol architecture, including Sir Joshua Jebb’s design for Pentonville Prison, London in 1842.

Jebb drew inspiration from the Utilitarian ideals of philosopher Jeremy Bentham’s well-known panopticon design. The panopticon reflected new ideas about surveillance and isolation. Prisoners were housed individually and under constant watch. Jebb’s radial design retained these features but included a central observation point with wings of cells rather than the panopticon’s circumferential cells.

The design of Victoria’s 19th century gaols originates with Jebb’s Pentonville model and the theories about punishment which informed it. The closure of these gaols in the late 20th century reflects another momentous shift in thinking about prisoner treatment.

30 years later the fates of these places is various. Some have been modified to such an extent they are barely recognisable, such as Pentridge, while others, such as at Castlemaine, redeployed as a secure museum for a private art collection, remains, otherwise intact and legible to its former function and design.

1. Old Melbourne Gaol
2. Castlemaine Gaol
3. Panopticon
4. Castlemaine Radial Plan
5. Melbourne Gaol, G. W. Raymond
6. Castlemaine Gaol, realcommercial
7. Pentridge, realestate

The Central Park Conservatory in Malvern, although technically a greenhouse, is a humble, yet elegant example of its type. The building was constructed in 1927 as part of council initiative to establish Malvern as a garden city.

For most of history, greenhouses, which are freestanding structures, were used to cultivate crops during the off season and variations on the form can be found in the historic record throughout the World in Rome, Korea, France, and beyond.

The grandest of these, and the precursor to the Central Park Conservatory, date back to Victorian England. The growing interest in horticulture and the cultivation of exotic, rather than agricultural, specimens led to the development of new window frame and heating technologies and the design of the glass greenhouse we recognize today.

These were early explorations of glazed construction and were the inspiration for the design of the renowned Crystal Palace (Joseph Paxton, 1851) and a spiritual precursor to the modern curtainwall.

During the mid-20th century, greenhouses began to fall out of fashion, and many fell into disrepair and were demolished.

In 1994, RBA was tasked with saving the dilapidated Malvern Conservatory. A radical approach was needed to repair the building which had become a health and safety risk.

To mitigate exposure to damaged lead paint, the structure was enclosed in an air-tight cocoon and the paint hygienically grit blasted. Concurrently, patch repairs to the various steel sections were undertaken in situ, and the original hydronic heating system was restored.

The Central Park Conservatory has been in public use since and displays a wide array of botanic wonders including local resident John Varigos’s stunning orchid collection.

Cover - Interior post works
Image 2 - Exterior post works
Image 3 - Wilmot Fountain, Central Park, 1929 J. Young
Image 4 - West elevation prior to works, RBA
Image 5 - Interior view of the Crystal Palace, 1854 - 1866, Historic England Archive
Image 6 - Steel Detail during works, RBA
Image 7 - During works, RBA
Image 8 - North elevation during works, RBA
Image 9 - Interior during works, RBA
Image 10 - Internal Steel detail post work

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Utsushi: work derived from and inspired by tradition

Keith Haring Mural, Collingwood - Street Art Conservation

Connecting People to Place - former College Church, Parkville

2023 AIA Victorian Architecture Awards

Roger Beeston chairs the Heritage Jury for the 2020 AIA Victorian awards

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