Eddy Avenue Heritage Shopfront - Cootamundra Girls’ Home Adaptive Re-use
Client context: Sydney Trains engaged Rapid to deliver a full strip-out and internal re-build of a heritage-listed flagship shopfront on Eddy Avenue, aligning with Heritage adaptive re-use for the Cootamundra Girls’ Home group.
Key challenges:
- Termite-affected, highly fragile floor and timber elements to be preserved where possible
- Severely deteriorated structural steel supporting the arched roof; required propping and metallurgical testing for weld repair design
- Sub-floor ballast: 38 tonnes of basalt ballast filled to joist tops; ballast removal constrained by Pitt Street access and executed via conveyor belts to trucks
- Walls: moisture and salt damage with plaster failure; stabilization and restoration while maintaining historic integrity
Intervention and approach:
- Salvage where possible: matched non-salvageable timber by species, colour, size, and grain
- Roof structure: temporary support and tested repair methods to restore integrity
- Sub-floor remediation completed to facilitate new finishes without compromising heritage fabric
- Substrate stabilization and new hard-set plaster finishes on both new and existing surfaces for high-quality aesthetics
Collaboration and governance:
- Involvement of NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Sydney Trains Heritage Specialist, OEH, and Sydney Trains Heritage Architects
- Close coordination ensured accessibility improvements and modern facilities while respecting heritage values
Outcome:
- Successful refurbishment and adaptive re-use of a heritage flagship, delivering modern accessible facilities within a historically significant site, through careful conservation and collaborative stewardship.
Client
Coota Girls' & Sydney Trains
Value
$575k
Location
494 Pitt Street, Haymarket
