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

Conservation Areas – Ambience, Form and Scale

13/08/2018

Insofar as local councils in NSW are concerned, the general objectives in a residential conservation area typically, are to conserve the ambience, form, materiality, scale, setting and subdivision pattern of the historic precinct in order that contributory buildings in such areas are appropriately conserved and new buildings introduced, are appropriately designed. It is simple politeness to deal with such precincts respectfully in a deferential manner rather than attempting to bombastically assert a bold and disruptive typology by way of new infill buildings that do not comply. Primarily, the aims and objectives of a typical residential conservation area are to; 1. Maintain all buildings and other structures which explain the history of the area and contribute to its significance – (HISTORICAL REFERENCE); 2. Ensure a consistency of scale and materials in extensions to existing buildings and in new buildings so that the new work does not detract from the historic buildings and their amenity or from the streetscape (CONSISTENCY).

Why is heritage conservation good for society?

09/08/2018

I can think of ten good reasons why heritage conservation is not only good for society but healthy too. I list them as follows;
EMBEDDED MEMORY – heritage buildings imbue localities with embedded memories. This is important for promoting civil pride and respect and promotes a sense of psychological reassurance in the sense that we trust places better if we know them as opposed to those places to which we have never been before. The fact that there are places with heritage buildings that may be hundreds of years old creates a sense of safety in our minds because we can easily tell that other people and previous generations have safely used and enjoyed those places before us – as we do now. HISTORICAL RECORD – clearly, heritage buildings and places are a marker of time. They readily reveal to us how previous societies built their spaces, constructed their buildings. Selected their motifs and decoration and understand what they were attempting to achieve with their buildings.

9 Types of Heritage Building

26/07/2018

Since colonial times in NSW, Australia, there are nine distinct styles of European, English and American inspired heritage architecture. Listed in order of appearance, they are; Colonial (1788 – 1840); Mid-Victorian (1840 – 1870); Late Victorian (1870 – 1895); Federation (1895 – 1925); Californian Bungalow (1925 – 1938); Inter-war buildings (1918 – 1939); Modern Movement buildings (1935 – 1960); Post Modern buildings (1950 – 1975); Brutalist buildings (1968 – 1975).

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