Reno breathes new life into historic site
FOR more than 110 years the Toowoomba Foundry was the industrial heart of the city.
During that time thousands of men toiled away at the factory churning out everything from locomotives to windmill components.
The city grew around the foundry before its last tenant, Southern Cross Windmills, moved out in 2002.
It sat empty until a consortium of buyers purchased it in 2019 and set about restoring it to its former glory.
That painstaking renovation is complete, and yesterday the owners celebrated marking the milestone.
General manager Chris Smith said it was always going to be a difficult build.
“The owners have undertaken four other rebuilds of heritage properties, so they are not afraid of it,” he said
“There was nothing insurmountable, but it was just about recognising that it was a 100-year-old site, built to different building codes.
“Marrying the new building code with building fabrics that are over 100 years old is always challenging.”
The new look foundry is a mix of open plan and smaller offices, suitable for retail or commercial tenants. It comes with a large outdoor area.
It was designed by Aspect Architects – the same people who worked on the Rowes Building facelift, which is now home to the Toowoomba Chronicle.
The site’s past life is reflected in industrial highlights, from the lighting to the vintage brickwork and heritage timber flooring.
One of the challenges was masking the constant hum of traffic from Ruthven Street with double-glazed windows that married with the building heritage style.
“You can barely hear it,” Mr Smith said.
The building is empty now but is expected to have tenants soon.
“There has been enormous interest from the market,” he said.