2021 Gallery
Winner: House in a Heritage Context
Welsh + Major for The Hat Factory
The Hat Factory, built on Gadigal Land, has survived fire, police invasion, and countless parties.....It's been a hat factory, a printers, a squat and a 'social-centre'. Now it enters a new phase of its life as a flexible inner city house for a family of four.
Jury Citation
The Hat Factory by Welsh and Major has a colourful past. The building, most recently partially derelict after fire and its use as a notorious squat, is an important feature that anchors locally listed Hollis Park in Newtown. The brief to create a pair of flexible, contemporary residences could have erased history but instead has enriched it. The private residences acknowledge existing social attachment to the place and add a readable new layer. This public gesture is made more generous in the absence of a heritage listing or any requirement for the built fabric to be retained.
The retention of deteriorated fabric as a platform for new development required creative design, careful engineering and skilled building. From the street, the upper floor additions appear to effortlessly complement the old. The rudimentary nature of the factory is beautifully offset by the lightness of the construction and the industrial aesthetic. The staircase is an absolute highlight.
Welsh and Major has balanced the achievement of a flexible, future-focused home for their clients with a reworking of a gritty part of the public realm. The project should be applauded for demonstrating commitment to, and passion for, re-valuing our past as part of a richer future.
