There ought to be a qualification for all designs in relation to heritage buildings. Our heritage-listed items and buildings in Heritage Conservation Areas are far too valuable to be marred by bad design. The heritage stock of buildings is becoming increasingly rare.

To see superbly designed buildings from several centuries ago being brought down by bad design, is simply tragic.

In Victoria (State of Victoria, Australia), The Office of the Victorian Government Architect has produced a publication titled ‘Good Design + Heritage’. The document is accessible as a PDF and is part of an ongoing series. Their most recent is Issue 7.

On the Victorian Government Architect website, the description for Issue 7 is as follows:

“The Office of the Victorian Government Architect provides strategic advice to the government about architecture and urban design. It supports government with advocacy and advisory initiatives, including design review, collaborative workshops, design quality teams, desktop reviews and input on briefs. One of our aims is to encourage awareness of the role of good design in protecting, enhancing and layering contemporary legacy in heritage places.

This publication is the seventh in a series that is helping to raise awareness of good design and promote discussion about its benefits and value. The publication has been developed together with Heritage Victoria and the Heritage Council of Victoria. It highlights key design principles and outlines some effective approaches to achieve good design.”

Why do we not have this kind of documentation in NSW? What would it take to legislate design excellence for all heritage buildings?

If heritage building owners are concerned about added costs for architectural services, then perhaps the NSW Government could provide such services free of charge. It would certainly raise the calibre of design. Such assistance would also constitute a heritage incentive, thereby showing that the Government is commitment to heritage as a public good in society.

Presently, in NSW, we appear not to have any tangible commitment by the Government to built heritage. This is not to say that we don’t have a handful of excellent, high-quality, new buildings – intelligently integrated with heritage buildings. Unfortunately, they are few and far between. It would be good to see our Government Architect provide similar publications to those in Victoria.

I do acknowledge ‘Better Placed: Design Guide for Heritage’ by the NSW Department of Planning and the Government Architect of NSW.  However, it is a single publication, not an ongoing series, and could, perhaps, be better implemented.

One would have thought that several PhD theses would have been written by now about the topic. Probably several have been undertaken, but they have not been placed front and centre in our thinking, looking and discovering.

Between the consultation and collaboration of heritage conservation experts, town planners, architects and academics, surely NSW could develop its own consistent, informative version of Good Design + Heritage. This way, further development of heritage buildings will have a better blueprint. Alterations to our cultural and built heritage deserve to be held with greater respect, quality, and architectural standards.

Paul Rappoport

Conservation Architect and Heritage Planner

12 August 2024

References:

Erin Sierins, “Paddington Reservoir Gardens.” Public Gardens to Breathe Fresh Air into Sydney, Song Hotels (2018): figure 3. Public Gardens Breathe Fresh Air into Sydney – Song Hotel Sydney Australia

The Office of the Victorian Government Architect. “Issue 7.” In Good Design + Heritage. State of Victoria, 2016.