design
mag |
85
In 150 years Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley went from
an immigrant camp to a notorious nightclub and
red-light strip. Until the mid-1990s, James Street,
which links New Farm to the Valley, was dominated
by a disused Coca-Cola bottling plant.Today, as
part of Fortitude Valley’s Urban Renewal program,
the street has shed its industrial recent past and
taken on a restaurant and fashion focus for a
prosperous new generation.
Adrian Spence and Ingrid Richards (www.
richardsandspence.com) were tasked with
repurposing and upgrading 19 James Street.The
“donor” building, a nondescript, mid-90’s precast
concrete structure housing commercial showrooms
and offices, has morphed into high-value, high-style
retail and office accommodation.
“The project was complicated by the fact that
several of the tenants remained during
construction,” says Adrian Spence.“That was part
of the reason for not demolishing the building
and starting again. I’m not sure there was a
significant saving in doing that,” he adds.
The building describes a square and was
co-developed with number 15, designed by
another architect. Large sections of the internal
structure were demolished to open up the original
commercial spaces and new suspended slabs
were constructed on the upper floor.The original
frontage was set back from the street which gave
Richards and Spence the opportunity to extend to
the boundary, albeit while preserving existing
palm trees.
A ‘90s commercial building is given a fashion makeover
from left.
The James Street
project converted a 1990s
precast commercial building
into fashionable retail spaces.
Behind the hit-and-miss
brickwork on the upper level
are balconies off commercial
office spaces.The strong
surface articulation moderates
the building’s bulk and lends
individuality to the street
frontage in particular.
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Commercial Category
