"The work is technically proficient and also importantly enables the quality, integrity and significance of the building to be revealed and celebrated."

Jury comments, RAIA NSW Chapter, Francis Greenway Award for Restoration, 2003

The Submarine Mining Corps was established in the late 1870s to maintain an electrically triggered minefield within Sydney Harbour and the Corps’ headquarters, the Submarine Mining Depot at Chowder Bay, was completed in 1892.

This substantial sandstone and timber building was conserved and adapted by Allen Jack+Cottier, in collaboration with the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, during 2002. The major emphasis was careful conservation to halt the processes of deterioration which were affecting many elements of its fabric. The respectful conservation of the building, which forms the centrepiece of this historic defence complex, enhances the relationships between the surrounding village, parkland, bushland, beach and wharf, and adds significantly to public amenity in the area.