2015 National Architecture Awards: Heritage

Jury citation

The jury was impressed by the outstanding restoration and refurbishment of Coriyule, one of Victoria’s most important and earliest architect-designed homesteads. The project is the result of the architect’s and clients’ comprehensive and painstaking research and detailed technical investigation over more than seven years. The rare 1848 Tudor Gothic style residence designed by colonial architect Charles Laing includes distinctive, locally sourced stone and diamond panel patterned casement windows, which, unusually, use cast iron instead of lead for housing the glass. It is believed this was a strategy to protect Coriyule’s owner, Scottish heiress Anne Drysdale, and her companion Caroline Newcomb from local marauders. Restoring Coriyule required exemplary effort to source replacement stone and timbers from around Australia, as well as, where required, replication of the original Morewood and Rogers galvanized roof tiles. All exterior walls were repointed using a lime mortar coloured with local sand and soil to match the original and finished to the same detail. The house has been brought back to its former life as a country house. All the interior spaces are legible without age or patina being lost. Complementing this preservation strategy are low-key, sympathetic insertions of contemporary bathrooms, kitchen and laundry. At all times, these defer to the greater interest and significance of the original house. Coriyule’s conservation restores, improves and celebrates one of Victoria’s earliest and finest homesteads. The careful and methodical approach adopted for the works has ensured adherence to best conservation practice, retaining all aspects of cultural significance connected to the place.