The City of Sydney has approved the $27.5 million redevelopment of a church in Redern, designed by Candalepas Associates.
Known as the Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady, the 173-year-old church is recognised as the centre of Greek Orthodoxy in Australia and has been listed on the state heritage register as an instance of “early ecclesiastical design” in the architecture of Edmund Blacket.
The church filed a development application with the City of Sydney almost two years ago, which has finally been approved, having undergone negotiations with the Heritage Office and Transport for NSW.
Works will entail the conservation of the cathedral building, along with the demolition of the existing theological building, alterations to the former St Paul’s rectory, and the construction of two three-storey buildings.
Render of the redeveloped Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady.
Image:
Candalepas Associates
The redevelopment will also include a new accommodation and offices wing in St Andrew’s Theological College; a great hall building that will increase the capacity of the site to receive important international guests; and a museum to hold important artefacts collected and gifted over the last century and to showcase exhibitions of a religious nature.
The redesign will incorporate the characteristics of Orthodox architecture, including the use of domes, and the architect said the design will prioritise the improvement in presentation of the cathedral with all intrusive accretions to its facade removed.
In a statement to the local planning panel, architect Angelo Candalepas said he drew from his own Greek heritage to create a design that was “generous to the public” and took into account the important juxtapositions between new and old.
“I’ve put everything I could imagine into this work, having drawn from my memory and the memory of my parents, to offer a work which I hope will be a seminal work for my office,” said Candalepas.
He added the designs came from “a place of deep reverie” and intended to communicate “something optimistic, something rare and something reposeful to our future”.
Candalepas has worked on several religious institutions, including Punchbowl Mosque and Church of the Living God.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
