CHALLENGES OF ADAPTATION: FROM COLLINGWOOD TAFE TO CIRCUS OZ

摘要

While the Burra Charter in relation to conservation works invites us to 'do as much as is necessary and as little as possible', the development dictum sometimes appears to be 'keep as little as is necessary and demolish as much as possible'. Our challenge as architects working with heritage buildings and sites is how to avoid the banality of the latter approach and achieve a positive outcome for both the building owners and the community by integrating new works with an existing building fabric. Creating Arts Victoria's new home for Circus Oz on the former Collingwood TAFE site was an opportunity for us at Lovell Chen to explore the possibilities and potential of an existing site and complex of buildings. In the process we saw that we could deliver a project that could be a catalyst for the renewal of this inner city site earmarked for development by the State Government as an arts and educational precinct. The existing buildings, built in stages between 1913 and the late 1950s for the Education Department, were purpose-designed for teaching a variety of trade and vocational skills to support the various local light industries of this inner city working class neighbourhood. The complex comprised a series of interlinked single, two and three-storey blocks containing simple rudimentary industrial spaces separated by a series of courtyards, laneway and alleys, and providing an abundance of natural light throughout. Architectural pretension was reserved for the street frontages, most notably the 1938 Administration Building on Johnston Street, regarded as an exemplar of international Dudok Modernism.