The Wills building “underwent adaptive reuse works in 2009 which saw the adaptation for office and residential use as well as the addition of 3 floors of residential apartments above the original roof line”, describes Kyra Lomas, a senior consultant at Element, Western Australia’s largest planning and urban advisory firm.
In 2009, the mixed-use strata complex now known as Home Apartments was awarded a WA Heritage Council Award for Excellence in adaptive reuse.
Over the years, Home Apartments has gone through a range of changes, improvements, and maintenance, yet as a heritage-listed building, the property has strict rules and regulations surrounding any work to be carried out.
Maintenance works undertaken regularly by the strata company, have preserved the good condition overall. There are, however, some elements of the external facade that are in poor condition and are causing accelerated deterioration of the building fabric.
The building facade retains most of its original detail, including curved wrought iron security bars on the ground floor windows and multi-paned double-hung windows with decorative circular elements on both the first and second floors.
However, as part of the 2009 adaptive reuse works, the glass panes were removed from the external facing windows. As a result, water ingress has been occurring over time to the balconies of the tenancies facing Murray and Milligan Street. This is causing water ingress issues in apartments and deterioration of the original timber window frames.
To ensure the rich history of 65 Milligan Street is preserved, Realmark Strata has worked in collaboration with the Heritage team at Element and the Council of Owners to undertake the preparation and submission of a grant application to the Australian Heritage Grants Program, to gain assistance and funding to carry out essential works.
Element Director, Flavia Kiperman explains the aims of this program and the work Element’s Heritage team does to put forward a property such as 65 Milligan Street.
“This program aims to improve recognition, conservation, preservation, and access to the National Heritage Values of National Heritage Listed places, whilst also increasing community engagement and raising awareness of heritage-listed places,” she said.
“65 Milligan Street has been identified on the Heritage Council of WA as possessing cultural significance, which then allowed us to identify maintenance works to be done and provide quotes on cost, to then apply for these grants.
“If the grant is approved, we then assist with the heritage works by putting forth the best practices to carry out the maintenance work, while sticking to the strict heritage program guidelines.”
If Home Apartments is successful in its submission for funding, “the proposed works will see the refurbishment of these deteriorated windows to the eastern facade, rectification of the resulting drainage issues, and external painting works to the affected significant fabric”, according to Ms. Lomas.
Their team assists in developing a clear understanding of heritage values that in turn will guide the management of change, including conservation, adaptive reuse, and balancing the old with the new, and the aid of this grant will go a long way to ensure longstanding maintenance of the building.
Mrs Kiperman explains how although it is a lot of work to undertake a heritage grant application and carrying out the identified work, Element’s collaboration with Realmark Strata on these matters have always been productive.
“Working with the Strata team has always been easy,” she said.
“They’re great clients, good people and will always be there to respond, which is fantastic when consulting on matters such as heritage grant applications.”
Just this year the Strata Company commissioned a range of renovations at the property managed by Realmark Strata, such as a large-scale roof replacement.
Realmark Strata Community Manager, Jessica Wilkes explains how the renovations have now improved the existing Terrace roof design, while also minimising water ingress and resultant property damage.
“We worked with roofing contractors, Roofeze to complete the work with minimal disruption to residents and installed a roofing product that offers durability, corrosion resistance, and is aesthetically pleasing,” Miss Wilkes said.
“There is a range of further works we are dedicated to undertaking at 65 Milligan, and winning this grant will ensure this incredible, historical building is maintained for decades to come.”