“Adaptive reuse is increasingly seen as an alternative to the either/or scenario of demolition or sentimental preservation. With their award-winning restoration and extension of Woollahra Council’s Redleaf Building Allen Jack+Cottier have enhanced a beautiful and iconic site on Sydney’s Eastern suburbs foreshore.”

Paul McGillick, Monument, August/September 2001

Set in extensive landscaped gardens, Redleaf, the Woollahra Council Chambers building is one of the few surviving mid-nineteenth century grand mansions that once dominated the eastern foreshore of Sydney Harbour. The Victorian Italianate style home was constructed in 1863 as the residence for William Benjamin Walker, the son of a leading colonial trader, and has been occupied by Woollahra Council since the 1960s.

Our sensitive adaptive reuse of the grand historic home to provide new office space for the Council juxtaposes contemporary elements with historical character. Rather than an arranged marriage of old and new, the design is more a union of equal partners, in which the old and the new enhance each other. The project is a good example of the innovation, lateral thinking and integration of architecture, landscape, urban and sustainable design offered by Allen Jack+Cottier.

In association with Design 5

Date	2001
Client	Woollahra Council
Cost	A$10 million
GFA	3500 m²
Heritage Listing	Schedule 3 of Woollahra Council’s Local Environment Plan
Original construction date	1863
Original Building User	William Benjamin Walker
Original Building Use	Residence
New Building Use	Offices and council chambers

2001	Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Awards – Winner Adaptive Reuse, Corporate/Government (C1) (in association with Design 5)

2001	Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Awards – Winner Adaptive Reuse, Corporate/Government (C1) (in association with Design 5)

2002	Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) NSW Environment Award – Energy Efficient Design

2002	Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) NSW Environment Award – Energy Efficient Design

2002	Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) NSW Conservation & Adaptive Re-use Award

2002	Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) NSW Conservation & Adaptive Re-use Award