Ten years ago, there were plans to evict the residents, sell Sirius and possibly demolish it.
In Sydney, Australia, a brutalist residential building was reconstructed by adding modules lined with copper plates to the facade, Dezeen reports.
The multi-apartment complex "Sirius" was built in 1979 according to the project of the Dutch architect Tao Gofers. The building had features of Japanese metabolism. It housed 79 apartments with one, two, three or four bedrooms, as well as communal spaces such as a library and lounge area.
Ten years ago, there were plans to evict the residents, sell the house and possibly demolish it. The defenders of the building claimed that it was listed on the monument register, but the government tried to hide this information. Heritage Minister Gabrielle Upton said that Sirius, in her opinion, was not worthy of preservation.
At the same time, "Sirius" itself stood on the site of the demolished buildings of the Rocks district in the historic center of Sydney. Many citizens who were evicted during that period later settled in the brutalist complex.
The CplusC Architectural Workshop studio proposed a radical reconstruction with a large-scale addition. The last resident of "Sirius" was a 90-year-old blind woman, she moved out of her apartment in 2018.
In the end, the house was sold for 150 million Australian dollars (approximately 93 million euros), deciding that the complex would not be demolished, but reconstructed. The reconstruction was carried out by the BVN studio, which won an architectural competition. The restored building contains 75 apartments and commercial premises on the first floor.
The original concrete facade was preserved, but an extension was added to it in the form of copper-clad capsule modules. As intended by the architects, it continues the idea of the original modular design. Copper will change color and texture over time and will gradually blend in with the concrete facade.
The barriers that separated the complex from the rest of the Rocks district were removed around the house.
Common spaces for residents are also provided on the lower level. The photo below shows a bison work by wood artist Penny Rozier.
Most of the interiors of the apartments were also designed by BVN. Some apartments are two-level. Wood, stone and metal were used in the interiors.