Former Victoria Producers Co-operative Company Ltd No.5 Wool Store 85-89 Sutton Street, North Melbourne Expert Witness Statement to Panel Amendment C207 to the Melbourne Planning Scheme Bryce Raworth Prepared under instructions from SBA Law November 2013 bryce raworth pty ltd conservation • urban design 19 victoria street, st kilda, vic 3182 telephone 9525 4299 85-89 Sutton Street, North Melbourne Expert Witness Statement to Panel Amendment 0207 to the Melbourne Planning Scheme November 2013 1.0 (cid:9) Introduction This statement of evidence was commissioned on behalf of the owners of the former Victorian Producers Co-operative No.5 Wool Store at 85-89 Sutton Street, North Melbourne. I have been asked to comment on the proposal to apply a site specific heritage overlay to this site under Amendment C207 to the Melbourne Planning Scheme. This statement addresses the significance of the existing building on the site and the appropriateness of its inclusion in the heritage overlay schedule to the Melbourne Planning Scheme. The statement has been prepared with assistance from Martin Tumor of my office. The views expressed are my own. 2.0 (cid:9) Sources of Information The analysis below draws upon a detailed inspection of the exterior and interiors of the building, along with a review of the Amendment C207 documentation, including the statement of significance for the site prepared by Graeme Butler and Associates, and the relevant heritage studies, including the North Melbourne Conseroation Study (City of Melbourne, 1984) and Urban Conservation Areas — North Melbourne - Guidelines for Owners (City of Melbourne, c1986). I have also been provided with a heritage appraisal of the subject site prepared for the site owner in August 2012 by Lovell Chen Architects and Heritage Consultants. 3.0 (cid:9) Author Qualifications A statement of my qualifications and experience with respect to urban conservation issues is appended to this report. Note that I have provided expert witness evidence on similar matters before the VCAT, Heritage Council, Planning Panels Victoria and the Building Appeals Board on numerous occasions in the past, and have been retained in such matters variously by municipal councils, developers and objectors to planning proposals. Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 1 (cid:9)(cid:9) Expert Witness Statement - Amendment C207 (cid:9) 85-89 Sutton Street North Melbourne 4.0 (cid:9) Summary of views My views on the proposed heritage overlay proposed for the site can be summarised as follows. • The subject site is of sufficient historical and architectural significance to be regraded C, as is proposed under Amendment C207. • However, the citation/statement of significance prepared on behalf of Council overstates the interest and significance of the place in some respects. • In my view this is a borderline or threshold candidate with regard to the appropriate level of local significance to support an individual heritage overlay control rather than being a robust and obvious candidate. 5.0 (cid:9) Declaration I declare that I have made all the inquiries that I believe are desirable and appropriate, and that no matters of significance which I regard as relevant have to my knowledge been withheld from the Panel. BRYCE RAWORTH Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 2 Expert Witness Statement — Amendment C207 (cid:9) 85-89 Sutton Street North Melbourne 6.0 (cid:9) Listings and Controls Ciy of Melbourne The site is currently subject to an interim heritage overlay control (H01118). As noted above, Council proposes to introduce a permanent heritage control for this site as part of Amendment C207 to the Melbourne Planning Scheme. The proposed site specific heritage overlay covers all of the subject site. External paint controls would apply under this overlay, but not internal alteration or tree controls. The site was not identified in past heritage studies of this area, i.e. North Melbourne Conservation Study (Graeme Butler, 1983), North and West Melbourne Heritage Review 2000-2002 (Mom Lovell & Associates). Other buildings associated with the Victorian Producer's Co-op at 74-88 Mark Street were identified as D graded buildings in the 1983 study but most have been demolished in recent years. SUTTON H01092 H01092 H01118 RK Extent of the heritage overlay proposed by Amendment C207, which covers the entirety of the subject site (H01128). The overlay is already in place on an interim basis. Heritage Victoria The subject site is not included on the Victorian Heritage Register. National Trust of Australia (Victoria) The subject site is not included on the Register of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). Australian Heritage Council The subject site is not included on the Commonwealth Heritage List nor is it on the National Heritage Lister. Neither was the site listed on the Register of the National Estate (this register has been discontinued). Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 3 Expert Witness Statement — Amendment C207 (cid:9) 85-89 Sutton Street North Melbourne 7.0 (cid:9) History The Victorian Producers Co-operative The Victorian Producers Co-operative (VPC) was formed in 1910 by a group of Victorian farmers who no longer wished to deal with middlemen in the sale of their produce and the purchase of farming supplies.' The VPC operated as a pastoral agent, selling wool, livestock and real estate (mosdy farms) for commission, providing short term seasonal finance to farmers, retailing farm supplies (veterinary products, chemicals, fencing materials etc) and insurance services. Up until the late 1930s, a large part of the VPC business was in wheat but this was terminated when the Australian Wheat Board was established to take statutory control of the marketing of the wheat crop. The VPC had wool stores in Melbourne, Geelong and Portland and approximately 50 branches spread through rural Victoria, the Riverina District of New South Wales and the South East of South Australia. At the organisation's peak in the late 1980s, the VPC had an annual turnover exceeding $500 million, over 300 permanent and several hundred casual and part-time employees and boasted over 5000 members. The VPC was taken over by rival Elders in 1999. No. 5 Wool Store The wool department of the VPC was established in 1915-1916 and handled 2,100 bales in its first season. Their share of the wool trade grew so rapidly that by 1919 they received 39,000 wool bales. Around 1920, the VPC acquired 'commodious' wool stores in North Melbourne. 2 A newspaper article of September 1920 reported on the company's plans to complete their own wool store on the site the following year at a cost of L40,000.5 By 1934, the VPC had approximately 51/2 acres of warehouse floor space at North Melbourne serviced by a rail siding at Macaulay station.4 (cid:9) Figure 2 A 1934 illustration of the VPC's North Melbourne warehouse (this building was presumably located adjacent to the railway line, fronting Marks Street). Source: Gippsland Times. I htto://www.australia.coopicspastoraLpdf 2 Mercuy, 20 September 1920. 3 Mercuy, 20 September 1920. 4 Gippsland Times, 1 November 1934, p.5. Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 4 Expert Witness Statement — Amendment C207 (cid:9) 85-89 Sutton Street North Melbourne A 1945 aerial photograph shows large sawtooth roofed buildings occupying much of land on the east side of the railway line between Sutton and Mark Streets, although the subject site appears undeveloped at this time. 85-89 Sutton Street (cid:9) Figure 3 1945 aerial photograph showing the wool store/warehouse complex in place around the subject site. Source: State Librag of Victoria. Prosperity in the Australian wool industry peaked in the early 1950s when American demand for wool during the Korean War generated high prices. This was the period when Australian was said to 'ride on the sheeps' back'. 5 Concurrent with booming wool trade, the VPC expanded their North Melbourne warehouse complex. In 1950, the company sought a building permit from the City of Melbourne for a new £10,000 building. Plans for a further £17 ,000 worth of additions to their wool stores were submitted in 1954. The VPC's turnover for 1954 was second highest on record, when profit rose from £95,082 to £128,173.6 Despite a decline in wool intake, the VPC directors continued with the expansion of the company's wool storage facilities. In 1956, plans were submitted for a six level wool store fronting Sutton Street — known as the No.5 Wool Store. The estimated cost of the wool store was £272,000. The building is understood to have been designed by consulting structural engineer Cyril Hudspeth.7 It was not until 1961 that Sands and McDougall Directories first list Victorian Producers Co-operative on the south side of Sutton Street. This could mean that No.5 Wool Store was built c1960 (some four years after plans were submitted). Alternatively, the store could have been built c1956-57 and was 5 See Australian Bureau of Statistics 'The wool industry - looking back and forward', http://www.abs.goy.au/. 6 Argus, 8 September, 1954, p.28. 7 Graeme Butler and Assoc., Arden Macaulay Heritage Review, p. 530. - Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 5 Expert Witness Statement - Amendment C207 (cid:9) 8589 Sutton Street - North Melbourne listed collectively with other parts of the Victorian Producers Cooperative stores under a common Mark Street address until 1961. By the time the No.5 Wool Store was completed, there had been a sharp decline in wool prices from the peak years of the early 1950s.8 Wool prices remained favourable until the mid 1950s but were on a downward trend. Continuing development of synthetic fibres combined with changing consumer tastes led to a falling demand for wool. Other agricultural industries - particularly wheat and cattle - overtook wool in terms of economic importance. Falling demand for wool might explain why Sand and McDougall directories cease to list the Victorian Producers Cooperative on Sutton Street from c1974. It could be that the company had vacated the No.5 Wool Street by this time, or it might also be the case that the wool store remained in use but was not separately listed in the directories (Victorian Producers Cooperative were still listed at 74-88 Mark Street at this time). (cid:9) Figure 4 A 1971 oblique aerial photograph of the site. The fitll extent of the VPC warehouse complex (as understood) is outlined inyellow. Sow-ce: State Librag of Victoria. 8.0 (cid:9) Description The subject site is located on the south side of Sutton Street, between Boundary Road and the Upfield railway line, above which is the elevated City Link freeway. The site is occupied by a large six-storey warehouse with a south facing sawtooth roof. The building has a steel frame encased in concrete and expressed externally as a grid with non-structural red-brick infill. The north and west elevations have bands of steel framed windows with brick spandrel panels. The 8 Australian Bureau of Statistics The wool industry - looking back and forward', http://www.abs.gov.au/ Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 6 Expert Witness Statement - Amendment C207 (cid:9) 85-89 Sutton Street North Melbourne windows have multiple panes interspersed with glass louvres at regular intervals. Stairwells on the north elevation and south elevation are delineated by a vertical strip of glazing to the full height of the building. The steel-framed sawtooth roof has corrugated asbestos cement sheet cladding and south facing lights. Two large signs with black lettering on white backgrounds are displayed prominently on the upper levels of the east and west elevations. They read: 'VICTORIAN PRODUCERS CO-OPERATIVE CO LTD' (the west sign being mostly concealed by an advertising banner). The west elevation also has two smaller painted on signs reading 'No 5 STORE'. There are a series of loading bays on the ground floor of the west elevation with sliding metal sheathed doors. E " ir 2 Ian I LLLc . _ _ - (cid:9) Figure 5 The west elevation of the subject building. (cid:9) Figure 6 The north (Sutton Street) elevation of the building. Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 7 Expert Witness Statement — Amendment C207 (cid:9) 85-89 Sutton Street North Melbourne The building appears to remains largely intact externally. The lower levels of the west elevation are heavily defaced by graffiti and windows in this area have broken or missing glazing and some have been boarded over. The concrete encasing the building's structural frame is spaffing in many locations, exposing corroded steel, a form of deterioration generally known as 'concrete cancer'. The utilitarian character of the exterior is carried through into the interiors. Most spaces are open plan interrupted by a 'forest' of columns supporting the floor above. (cid:9) Figure 7 73;bica1 interior. (cid:9) Figure 8 Wool bale elevator. Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 8 Expert Witness Statement - Amendment C207 (cid:9) 85-89 Sutton Street North Melbourne 9.0 (cid:9) Significance The documents exhibited in support of Amendment C207 include a statement of significance for the subject site, prepared on behalf of Council by Graeme Butler and Associates. This is reproduced below. What is significant? This six-keel red brick sawtooth profile building of 1956 includes: • Modernist design character devoid of any of the sylistic ornament of most previous wool stores in the City; • a vastfloor space with the requisite sawtooth roof on the topfloor; • roof clad with deep profile corrugated fibre cement sheet; • continuous aluminium framed horizontal glazing strips encircle the building, divided by cavip) brick clad spandrels; • window glazing with heat absorbing glass; • a concrete encased steel flame expressed on the exterior of the building • metal clad sliding timber doors regularly spaced along the groundfloor, broken only where they meet a vertical glazed curtain wall extending the height of the building at its south ent • an interior of broad expanses of suspended concrete floor slabs, punctuated only by the drop elevator enclosures for the bails; and • originally a large goods lift was located next to the reinforced concrete escape stair at the south end of the building's west elevation. How is it significant? Victorian Producers Co-operative Company Ltd .No. 5 Wool Store is significant historically and aesthetically to North Melbourne and the Cig of Melbourne. Why is it significant? Victorian Producers Co-operative Company Ltd. No. 5 Wool Store significant [sic] Historically, as a major built symbol of the importance of primary production and in particular, wool growing and marketing, to Australia, particularly in the post Second War period, and the strength of growers in successfully organising this market. The building is one of the few surviving structures built for a company that received wide national press coverage because of its representation of growers from many parts of Australia, its evolution being part of a national primary producer cooperative movement: the Victorian Producers Co-operative Company became one of the biggest. Also by its scale as indicative of the special role played by North Melbourne and Kensington in industrial expansion for the Ciy of Melbourne and the State and the traditional link with primay indushy (Criterion A); and Aesthetically, as an austere but totally functional example of the Modernist approach to a building type that has simple and lingering requirements from the Victorian-era onwards as indicted by its layout, open floor space, and sawtooth top level (Criterion E). Under Amendment C207, the subject building would be a C grade place in a level 2 streetscape. These gradings are defmed as follows: C buildings. Demonstrate the historical or social development of the local area and /or make an important aesthetic or scientific contribution. These buildings comprise a variety of styles and building types. Architecturally they are substantially intact, but where altered, it is reversible. In some instances, buildings of high individual historic, scientific or social significance may have a greater degree of alteration. Level 2 streetscapes are of significance either because they still retain the predominant character and scale of a similar period or sOle, or because they contain individually significant buildings. Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd Conservation Urban Design (cid:9) 9