281 Clarence St, Sydney / Gaffa Creative Precinct

In reusing, celebrating and modernising a late 19th century building, the project’s challenges ranged from archaeological finds to fitting new workspaces and an art gallery into tight, heritage-style spaces. ”Good design” can be difficult to achieve in amongst the complexity of contemporary regulations and building requirements. The biggest challenge of this project was to recognise, retain and extend this significant piece of Sydney’s history into the future, modernising it for contemporary use without losing those key elements that make it unique and irreplaceable as a part of the city’s past.

A concept of ”pragmatic opportunity” led the design strategy. Seeking to take advantage of the practical requirements of the brief and working with contemporary construction technologies, the design solution was guided by this principle seeking every small opportunity to create spaces that are elegant, useful and functional without overwhelming the history of the place. In addition to restoring the heritage police cells into a public art gallery, inserting an elevator to improve accessibility, and refurbishing the intermediate floor plates for commercial use, the project culminates in a new public roof garden that contributes to the cultural life of Sydney.

The reuse of existing buildings in our cities must be seen as critical to our continued move towards more sustainable, culturally continuous and diverse urban environments. The tendency of our city (country) to ’knock-down-and-rebuild’ is a fundamental attitude that SUPERCONTEXT believe needs to change. This project has been an opportunity to open up a piece of urban history to a broader public, to celebrate the capacity of existing and heritage buildings to be returned to the city through their extension and reworking for contemporary life.

The central space of the project is a multi-storey atrium, connecting the once exterior ground floor police lock up cells, constructed in the 1880s, through to the new roof garden and event space. The project revolves around this atrium : it provides light down into the centre of the deep floor plan and, we hope, will act as a social condenser and anchor for the precinct through the occupation of the art gallery (”Gaffa Creative Precinct”) on the ground floor in the vaulted rooms of the old police lockups. The key desk feature SUPERCONTEXT contributed has been the additional of the rooftop garden and gallery, a public rooftop connected via a new elevator to the ground floor gallery. Seen as a room of the city, the opportunity to welcome people to the top of the former police station, nestled amongst other heritage warehouses and buildings of the Clarence St/Kent St precinct of the Sydney CBD, the rooftop marks likely the final vertical extension to the James Barnet base.