Heritage Living Winter 2011 - National Trust of Australia

Heritage Livingnational TRust of South AustraliaAdaptive re-use makes for sometruly interesting contemporary spaces Marcus BeresfordAbove: Hardy MilazzoPhoto: Marcus BeresfordAbove: Hardy MilazzoPhoto: Marcus BeresfordVisitors walk through the 19 th century doorwayof 44 Currie St into an utterly contemporaryspace, with a glass and steel lift-well to the leftand glass stair-well to the right. Ahead is a slightlyraised floor of modern offices, which neverthelessechoes the traditional few steps up into a 19 thcentury warehouse building.The conversion of what was originally Bickford’sCordial Factory by Hardy Milazzo Architects is astand-out example of how to adapt an old buildingto meet modern access, safety, fire and otherrequirements, but retain a record of great interest,and create a pleasant working environment.The architects’ offices on the second floor, inparticular, illustrate a sensitivity to earlier uses,with the foundation of an earlier brick wallpreserved under clear resin on the floor in frontof the reception counter, exposed internal brickwalls with fine wide archways dividing up spaces,and even colour highlights suggestive of Bickford’slime and sarsaparilla cordials! Exposed woodenceiling rafters and purlins, an intriguing maze ofsteel air-conditioning ducts and a modern rooftopfloor not visible from street level, add to theattractive but functional office spaces.Bickford’s Buildings were designed by DanielGarlick in 1878 and comprise three joinedwarehouses of Mitcham freestone with Italianatedressings. Bickford’s also produced “Cough Elixir,Dandelion, Quinine and Liver Pills, Cream of Liliesfor the Complexion, Rosaline for teeth and breath,Hair Dye, Bonbons or Worm tablets for children”.The buildings later became the Anglican ChurchOffices.Architects Graham Hardy and Darren Park say theadaptation of the building was on the one handfacilitated by relative freedom to deal with interiorspaces (which had already been heavily modifiedin the 1950s), but on the other hand the architectspushed the owners to retain many features thatmight otherwise have been gutted.Around the corner in Leigh Street is a group offurther 19 th century buildings adapted to newuses or handsomely restored to their formerappearance - the SA Archives (formerly Megaw &Hogg Auction Rooms) at 26-30 Leigh St, designedfor Bickford’s by the same architectural firm in1895; and the original Anglican Church office of1861 at number 18, with its upper floor of 1877-8designed by William McMinn.To mark the inaugural National Heritage Week14-20 April 2011 the Adelaide and Inner SuburbsBranch of the NTSA arranged a short noticetour of these and other city buildings adaptedfor re-use, led by Adelaide City Councillor SandyWilkinson.Also visited were the nearby Miller Apartmentsat 15 Hindley St, formerly Miller AndersonDepartment Store (begun as William Sanders andJohn Whyte linen merchants in the earlypage 8