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A Considered Restoration – 80 Albion by Squillace
An empathic renovation restores, repairs and maintains the original building fabric to complement new additions. This principle holds true at 80 Albion, where Squillace thoughtfully reinterprets a heritage building for its next epoch as commercial offices and a restaurant.
A former Freestyle Methodist Gothic Church and Presbytery, 80 Albion is an adaptive re-use conversion that allows the rich history of the site to be appreciated once again. Squillace takes a considered approach, balancing minimal and contemporary additions so as not to take away from the beauty of the heritage building.
As such, celebrating the building’s history was a key aspect of the redesign. Heritage architects GBA Heritage sought to honour its long history, dating back to 1855, by prioritising repairs, restoring render, re-pointing brickwork and repairing structural cracks in walls.
Spatially, volumes were largely maintained to allow the original church structure to remain the dominant feature. An addition of a triple-height glass roof to enclose the courtyard transformed it into an atrium that now houses a restaurant.
The addition of a top level from the 1970s was amended to have pro-portions and detail reminiscent of the original style.
Other additions were considered and adopted a subtle presence. The addition of a top level from the 1970s was amended to have pro-portions and detail reminiscent of the original style. Similarly, steel detailing and glass were used to frame views of the church, provide re-flections of the spaces and clearly define all contemporary additions.
A restrained interior echoes this design language. The timber ceiling is painted a mission brown colour, complementing the oak floors, white walls and exposed brick, which together create a warm, inviting workspace.
