The developer of the $1 billion project to redevelop a historic malt houses and concrete silo precinct in Melbourne has lost an appeal against the Heritage Council of Victoria’s refusal to issue a permit. This decision comes despite a July decision by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to grant a planning permit for stage one of the development.
The 1.4-hectare development, designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects and Oculus, is situated in Cremorne on the edge of the Yarra River. The three-stage development also incorporates Melbourne’s iconic, heritage-listed Nylex Clock.
In January 2016, Heritage Victoria rejected stage one of the proposed development, in part because it had “very little positive heritage outcomes” and because it could have a negative impact on views of the Nylex Clock.
On 19 January, the developer Caydon lodged an appeal against the permit refusal. In August, the Heritage Council Permit Appeals Committee upheld the earlier decision by the council’s executive director.
“The Committee considers that the proposed new buildings would have the most substantial of the adverse impacts on the cultural heritage significance of the Place,” the report states.
The site, which incorporates the Barrett Burston Richmond Maltings, “is historically significant as the oldest surviving independent sale (as opposed to brewing) maltster site in Australia,” according to its statement of significance. “It has been continuously associated with the brewing and malting industry since 1852.” The site was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2004.
The proposed Malt District development designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects and Oculus.
Image: Caydon/Fender Katsalidis Architects
In 1952, 11 concrete silos were added to the site. “The 1952 and 1960s concrete silos, by reason of their height scale and bulk visually, dominate the immediate townscape, and are also viewed over a wide distance in eastern Melbourne,” the statement of significance reads. “Together with the Nylex sign, which sits atop the silos, they have become a significant cultural iconic feature in the Melbourne landscape and psyche.”
The permit appeal report document stated that heritage consultant Peter Lovell of Lovell Chen, who gave statements of evidence on behalf of the developer, said the proposed works “would not have an unacceptable impact on the cultural heritage significance of the Place” and that “the proposed works to existing buildings include works that are minor in nature or permit exempt.”
The document also reports that architect David Sutherland of Fender Katsalidis Architects stated that “the proposed new buildings continue the interrelationship between new and old at the Place, responding to and highlighting heritage elements at the Place. He supported the curvilinear form of the tower above the podium of the southern building as appropriate.”
The document continues: “The Committee, however, does not consider the proposed works to be site-responsive in terms of the heritage values of the Place and is of the view that the new works do not respond appropriately to the views into and within the Place and would affect the aesthetic significance of the Place.”
Stage one of the development was granted a planning permit by VCAT in July, but the decision by the Heritage Council of Victoria now leaves the plans uncertain. In June, the City of Yarra rejected a planning application for stage two of the development.
Stage two works also include the demolition of the 1960s silos on which the Nylex sign sits, which are exempt from the heritage permit. An application to remove the heritage exemption will be the subject of a separate hearing.
