The Hobart City Council has approved a development application that proposes the redevelopment of the disused University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music building on Sandy Bay Road into short-stay accommodation.
The Conservatorium of Music building, located at 5–7 Sandy Bay Road, has remained unoccupied for several years after being acquired by the Fragrance Group from the University of Tasmania in 2017. Before the university took over, the building served as studios for television and radio broadcaster, ABC.
The redevelopment application for 5–7 and 1–3 Sandy Bay Road and 2A Heathfield Avenue was approved at a Planning Authority Committee Meeting held on 23 April. According to a communique published by the council, the project will involve the demolition of parts of the former Conservatorium of Music building, a steel microwave transmission tower, a brick warehouse on Wilmot Street and a dwelling on Heathfield Avenue.
The project, designed by Scanlan Architects, consists of two “blocks” – one providing short-stay accommodation and the other supplying permanent residences. Block A, comprising a retained portion of the former Conservatorium of Music building and a new six-storey extension, will collectively accommodate 75 short-stay apartments and a ground-floor cafe. Block B will accommodate 12 residential townhouses. In total, 23 car parking spaces have been designated at the rear of the site for the use of short-term apartment users and cafe patrons, while 25 basement parking spaces have been allocated to townhouse occupants.
According to an architectural statement prepared by Scanlan Architects, the extension to the former Conservatorium of Music building has been designed to respect the scale and proportions of the original structure. “The new building design reflects a contemporary aesthetic while paying homage to the existing structure,” their statement reads. “By embracing the principles of adaptive reuse, our design sensitively merges old and new, creating a transition between the two architectural styles.”
A blue-green colour palette was selected for the vertical elements on the facade of Block A, paying homage to a heritage-listed mural created by George Davis in 1960 that faces Sandy Bay Road and will be retained.
The construction timeline for the project has not yet been announced.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
