Upcycling the first church
A GIANT building site at No.1 Church Street has created a lot of interest in the community after plans were revealed earlier this year for the tallest multi-storey residential apartment building west Blue Mountains. Dubbo Photo News sat down with one of t
How’s the demolition going and have the lockdowns created any dramas?
Lockdown has caused a few hold-ups with trades for the demolition and set back the demolition by a few weeks. In the scheme of things this is not having a detrimental impact on things though.
The 50-year-old building at the site is an unusual design with lots of stressed concrete, tell us about that.
Built in the mid 1960s by the NSW Public Works, it used some of the latest designs of its time for the construction of a three-storey building.
It consists of concrete external columns cladded with a precast concrete slab, formwork concrete floor, with a terracotta formed brick with extruded holes through the centre of the terracotta laid over the top of the timber form work, and concrete poured over the top to create a 200mm slab.
The roof consists of steel beams and Oregon timber cross sections. All the down pipes, gutters and internal plumbing drainage are copper. There are glass and aluminium windows and concrete panels fixed at either end of the building.
The building was extended onto during the early ‘80s by Public Works and a lift and entrance in the early-2000s consisting of concrete tilt-up panels and cladded steel framework (were added).
You’re recycling and upcycling as much material as possible from the building. Could you run us through the material such as the RSJ roofing beams and copper guttering?
We are recycling as much as we can. All the roofing, steel beams, Oregon timber, copper, internal doors, kitchens, windows, entrance doors, handrails, with the copper and Oregon are planned to be used in the new building.
All the materials will be used in that new building as recycled materials.
Once all the soft demolition is completed, the hard demolition – being the concrete and bricks – will be crushed down and used as road base material. The fill excavation will also be recycled and used as clean fill material.
How important is it to pay tribute to what comes before by utilising the copper in the finished product?
Using the recycled materials such as the copper is important as it allows us to reflect on the tradesmanship of the time, particularly the plumbers of the day, and the architectural style and design of the building.
The same with the Oregon beams, it would difficult to get such quality timber today in that size and length.
Do you reckon we throw too much building material to the rubbish tip
these days?
Certainly in the past we have, however we are more aware these days and therefore recycling plays a much more significant role.
We can do it better though, and even off the back of what we are doing there are some things that we have learnt that could be improved.
All in all though, at the end of the day very little of the demolished building will have gone to land fill.
What’s the timeline on the build itself?
Construction is expected to start once all the demolition and excavation has been completed, with construction starting mid to late November for a scheduled completion later in 2022.
Have you ever seen demand for Dubbo real estate like this before?
No I haven’t, the demand for housing is incredible and is not expected to decline for some time. This will drive all economic segments of the market and we are seeing this with increased demand for industrial, commercial and a flow to retail.
What we are seeing is an emerging shift away from traditional ways of how we deliver our businesses and how all this will look into the future, the challenges to our current planning structure and how it is delivered in communities.
How much confidence does this demand show in the city?
The confidence is strong. If you look at the confidence overall, it is amazing.
Dubbo has never seen the level of economic opportunity we have today. Yes, there are segments doing it tough due to the current climate, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
If you look at the successes that we see both in individuals and businesses, private and corporate, this not only shows confidence but also drives confidence.
I don’t think there is a regional city that is seeing growth that’s driven and delivered by local people like it is in Dubbo currently.
Dubbo is not only the head office of these companies but has the owners living and involved in the city. The largest sheep meet exporter in Australia and the southern hemisphere, grain trader and exporter, one of the fastest growing publicly-listed infrastructure and construction companies in Australia, one of the largest privately owned flour mills in Australia, the construction of the tallest multi-storey residential apartment building west Blue Mountains and supported by one of Australia’s billionaires .... the list can go on and on.
This does not happen overnight. It takes 10 to 20 years of
hard work, six and seven days a week, stacks of self-confidence, solid planning, going out on an edge and taking the risk, and sleepless nights and early mornings.
Along with the current corporate and government infrastructure spend in the region, which is in excess of $9 billion, we’re seeing unprecedent economic benefit from the growth of tourism, the continued growth of online shopping opportunities for the city and the region... These are an important part of our continued growth for retail and logistics which Dubbo is well positioned for.
Anything you’d like to add?
For Dubbo to continue to enjoy this significant opportunity it also needs to ensure that we have all levels of government continue to build and increase our capacity with both hard and soft infrastructure.
I have always said that connectivity is such an important part of our city and its region’s growth.
We need to be innovative and creative for our future, supporting our emerging entrepreneurs and existing business sectors with solid leadership.
It is extremely important that we bring all the community with us on the journey, therefore we must continue to ensure we deliver positive social outcomes and allow opportunities for those less fortunate.