Demolition has finally begun on the derelict former headquarters of the CSIRO, more than two years after developers applied for permission from the National Capital Authority.
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Prominent Canberra developers Doma Group lodged and publicly notified an application to demolish the 48-year-old Limestone Avenue complex in 2016, after buying the 4.1 hectare site for $20 million.
In the intervening two years, the buildings on the site have been extensively vandalised and looted for copper, while heritage proponents have argued the site should be maintained for the value of the 1970s architecture and surrounding environment.
In the meantime, Doma has radically changed its original proposal to build up to 650 apartments across 60,000 square metres on the site, and has now lodged a concept plan for a mix of 132 townhouses and 104 apartments.
The Foothills, so named for its prominent position at the base of Mount Ainslie, will be a “lower density development of spacious townhouses and apartments, spread out across four hectares of land ... offer[ing] generous, open spaces and undulating landscapes”, Doma managing director Jure Domazet said.
“The terraces being planned will be two, three or four bedrooms, with some a true house alternative. The apartments will have extensive views of Canberra and will offer between one and four bedrooms.”
The development will be a far cry from the smashed windows and graffitied facades that had been greeting drivers down Limestone Avenue for the past two years.
The building was designed by Sydney architects McConnel, Smith & Johnson, who won the contract to create the CSIRO’s national corporate headquarters in the late 1960s.
The National Capital Authority - then called the National Capital Development Commission- awarded the contract for construction for $1,438,996.
The initial two buildings were finished in 1970, and staff moved in from Melbourne and elsewhere in Canberra the same year. A third, two-storey office building on the site went up in 1981.
McConnel, Smith & Johnson completed several projects around Canberra in the 1960s and '70s, including the National Press Club in Barton, the Benjamin Offices in Barton, and City Walk in Civic.
In a heritage report commissioned by Doma, GML Heritage noted the architecture firm “became noted for producing reliable, cost-efficient buildings of a reserved character with simple, straightforward designs. They had a strong focus on client satisfaction by designing basic, functional buildings.”
Its buildings were distinctive for their functional designs, simple geometric shapes, and concrete, and by 2016, the CSIRO buildings were some of the few relatively intact examples of the architects' work. Most of its other Canberra buildings are now demolished or changed.
Since the buildings were vacated, with staff relocating to CSIRO’s Black Mountain site, there have been calls to retain the buildings for their scientific history as much as their architecture.
But with the NCA’s approval to redevelop the site, the buildings will soon disappear from the gentle Ainslie foothills. Mr Domazet said the demolition process would take eight to 10 weeks.
He said a public notification process would hopefully begin before Christmas, and Doma would begin to advertise the planned residences early next year.
