Heritage Places often don’t get the care and attention they need.
Flexibly applying planning guidelines incentivises proponents to invest in and revitalise important Heritage Places.
Our recent involvement in 341-345 Angas Street, Adelaide is a prime example of this.
The proposal involved converting the former Women’s hostel to dwellings and undertaking a 4-storey addition to the rear. The site is a State Heritage Place and the Zone is covered by a 3 storey height guideline.
Matthews Architects created a great design that demonstrated:
- Marginal impacts on the streetscape and character of the area, garnering support from Heritage SA.
- Careful articulation and modelling of the 4 levels at the rear so that it looks good from surrounding residential properties.
- No detrimental impacts on the neighbouring properties, with overlooking and overshadowing successfully mitigated.
The Council staff considered the matter finely balanced, but the very high standard of design convinced the Council Assessment Panel to vote in favour of the proposal.
A great outcome and fine example of the importance of recognising trade-offs in development assessment to achieve important objectives such as heritage conservation and rejuvenation.