Heritage adaptation in Ballarat at the School of Mines

$12 million construction cost

The Flecknoe Project began in 2015, when BCA was engaged to deliver a project that had been subject to earlier schematic design. Given the site-wide heritage listing of the School of Mines Campus, we were able to advise our client, Federation University, that a slightly different approach needed to be taken, one that worked more closely with the heritage fabric of the existing buildings.

The resulting heritage adaptation sees new life breathed into the 1930’s and 40’s former workshop buildings, and a new lease of life for the relatively unremarkable 1970’s educational building that had been positioned on top of them. Drawing on the past life of the buildings as metal working shops and machine sheds, we designed a constructivist-inspired high steel canopy and a new copper wall intervention that celebrated the history of the site, while adapting it for new uses. The building now contains a cafe, a business incubator and makers hub, and various tenancy spaces suitable for occupation by different allied tenants.

All of our professional photographs are by Dianna Snape, our favourite photographer.