Cultural Heritage Consultants & Cultural Heritage Advisors

Heritage 21 is a highly professional firm of cultural heritage consultants. We provide an all-round approach to the complexities facing urban change and provide the most professional heritage advice to our clients.
We have been in operation since 1994, and through that time we have helped hundreds of Australian business and home owners understand their rights and obligations through our expert team of heritage property consultants. Australia has a rich and vibrant history, and we are a country that cares a great deal about preserving our heritage. At the same time, making good use of heritage space is important, both in preserving the building itself, and ensuring that Australians can continue to enjoy the heritage for many years into the future.
As cultural heritage advisors, it’s our job to help our clients plan their use of the heritage building that they’ve bought or are looking to buy in a way that doesn’t damage the heritage value of it. Our experienced, professional team of heritage advisors understand the regulations and the law completely, and can help you work through any paperwork or legal process that you might need to undertake.
The best option in heritage property advisors, Australia-wide
Our expertise extends across state and Federal law and regulation across all of Australia, and our consultants are available to conduct site inspections, reports and guidance anywhere in the country. For further information, or if you are interested in more information on a heritage listed property, contact us on +61 2 9519 2521

Blog

5 top things to know about heritage design

19/07/2018

To all heritage architects/ consultants/ advisors/ builders/ planners/ managers and owners out there – there are five cardinal principles that should be applied when attempting to integrate new design into heritage buildings. I list them as follows; Bulk and scale, Setting, Form, Materials and Juxtaposition. Taking each individually, it is a common rule with heritage buildings to ensure that the new fabric does not overwhelm the heritage fabric i.e. that a there is a delicate balance between the two but always respectfully giving greater prominence to the older heritage building or at least allowing it to be recognised as distinct from the new building. Accordingly, in most cases, the new bulk and scale should be subservient to the heritage building. Roofs should be set down lower and walls set in behind. The concept of heritage design is very much based on the streetscape view i.e. what one sees from the street.

Seven Things to Know about Heritage Conservation

11/07/2018

There seven things to know about heritage conservation on our contemporary world today. This is a message for designers, architects, planners and managers of heritage buildings and places.
The decisions we make today will forever affect a heritage building or place. Therefore, we need to be conscious and judicious in the way we treat heritage fabric because what we decide now will affect every future decision to come. This places a heavy onus on the design of heritage buildings and forces the designer/ architect/ planner/ manager to be very circumspect in regard to each and every decision affecting a heritage building or place. Heritage buildings are all about their fabric. If you remove an element – it’s gone for ever. Nothing but a replica can be returned, and replicas are not heritage. Its not about what it looks like – its about what it actually is. I cannot replace my grandmother with a fake replica – it just won’t be the same person. This is how we need to think about heritage buildings.

Are NSW’s conservation incentives sufficient?

03/07/2018

For local government heritage items (listed buildings) in NSW, Australia, we have only two little incentives. They are Clause 5.10.10 and Clause 5.10.3 of the Local Environment Plan. There is a third incentive only operated by the Council of the City of Sydney and that is a transferrable development right under the HFS (Heritage Floor Space Scheme). I will explain later what this other one is all about. However, first, I would like to say that these incentives are insufficient, paltry, ungenerous and counter-productive in their limited scope. Incentives need to be generously applied so long as it can be determined that the outcome for the heritage building would be positively enhanced, better maintained and actually restored. Put simply, these are the only criteria that should prevail. Instead, councils and the courts and now design review panels are applying a limited approach to the incentive – always with the suspicion that the applicant (developer) is seeking some sort of unjustifiable reward/ opportunity/ free ride.

Testimonials

Sites with heritage values present great opportunities, however often can be easily derailed if clear, concise and timely advice is not provide at the earliest stages of site planning. I have worked with Heritage 21 over numerous projects across Sydney and have found them to be valuable project partners in the development process.

Vince Hardy
urban planning consultant | cityscapeplanning+projects

DFP Planning has worked with Heritage 21 (previously Rappoport Heritage Consultants) on numerous projects many of which involved complex heritage challenges. We have always found Heritage21 to be proficient heritage specialists whose reports and assessments are detailed and well presented.

Whilst Heritage21 are committed to ensuring the integrity of heritage items and conservation areas is preserved, their professional approach results in a balance between heritage conservation and contemporary development being achieved in all instances.

Ellen Robertshaw
Partner | DFP Planning

Our recent commission completed by your team in November last year highlighted the high quality value that Heritage 21 contribute to our architectural projects.

At that time of the year, not only was the time frame extremely tight and the project initiation of the shortest notice, but the implications of the issues embedded in the project were of enormous import to our client.The successful outcome of that project demonstrated the sharp focus of the Heritage 21 strategic methodologies.

We appreciate the culture of Heritage 21 as we consider it to be underpinned by your company’s broad knowledge base and intellectual integrity. The complexities and challenges presented by heritage projects only enhance the sense of satisfaction when the projects have been successfully delivered. We consider that the input from Heritage 21 contributes significantly to that sense of achievement.We look forward to working with Heritage 21 on many future projects.

Richard Mann
Director | Ecosystem Architecture