Surry Hills Studios
The history of Surry Hills, with its rag trade sweat shops and brothels, was found in the walls of this run down four storey warehouse building once the paint was removed from its flaking walls. With the addition of two storeys on top and a mezzanine in the ground floor, the building had the opportunity for a new lease of life, a restoration of its best original elements and an upgrade of all fire and safety systems.
The upper additions was constructed of light weight structure to avoid overloading the existing walls, and it was assembled in a few weeks. The new balconies on the pointy end of the building have been constructed in steel and bolted to the old walls to ensure the stability of the corners.
Location: Surry Hills, NSW
Design Architect: Luigi Rosselli & Simon Rosewell
Project Architect: Luigi Rosselli
Structural engineer: Rooney & Bye, Charles Blunt
Builder: KCJ Constructions
Joiner: A & S Joinery
Photographer: Simon Kenny & Edward Birch
Street perspective of the refurbished six-storey warehouse with lightweight upper additions, expressing a layered transformation of the existing Surry Hills structure.
© Edward Birch
Footpath view of the entrance, where the restored ground level engages directly with the street and re-establishes accessibility to the building.
© Edward Birch
Sunlit facade view highlighting the vertical extension and renewed envelope, with lightweight construction sitting above the original masonry frame.
© Edward Birch
View from the new balcony looking upward toward the curved corner structure, where steel additions are expressed as discrete elements attached to the existing walls. Whilst the interior detail of integrated stairs and storage cupboards combine circulation and built-in joinery with the adaptive reuse framework.
© Simon Kenny
Inside the bathroom, mirrored surfaces and a frosted glaze window reflect direct natural light, visually enlarging the compact room and introducing layered depth.
© Simon Kenny
Converted structural column transformed into a circular bookshelf, integrating storage within the existing fabric of the building. Staircase and cupboard composition beneath a skylight, with integrated storage and a framed artwork anchors the upper landing space.
© Simon Kenny