The Joseph Reed Facade, University of Melbourne - Recontextualizing Heritage
- computers67
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
When plans were announced in 2012 to demolish the Old Commerce Building at the University of Melbourne, attention quickly turned to the striking Joseph Reed façade embedded in its western elevation. Originally fronting the Bank of New South Wales on Collins Street and designed in 1856 by one of Melbourne’s most influential architects, Joseph Reed, the façade was already a survivor of demolition—dismantled, stored, and later rebuilt at the University in the 1930s. Though the building it was grafted onto was never heritage-listed, the façade itself was protected under the Melbourne Planning Scheme and recognised for its architectural and historic value. Its conservation became a key priority in the design of the new Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning (ABP), offering an opportunity to reinterpret this fragment of the city’s 19th-century streetscape within a contemporary setting.
RBA Architects were engaged (via Aurecon) to oversee the conservation of the façade. Their work included detailed documentation, condition assessments, and the development of a tailored conservation strategy that addressed decades of wear, inappropriate repairs, and material deterioration. Their research confirmed the façade’s original sandstone likely came from Kangaroo Point, Tasmania, and identified unsympathetic 20th-century repairs using mismatched Sydney sandstone and cement-rich renders that had accelerated decay. Guided by RBA’s findings, the conservation works, undertaken by IG Parker Stonemasons, sought to stabilise and protect the façade while enabling its respectful integration into the new ABP building, designed by John Wardle Architects and NADAAA.
One of the enduring issues with the integration of the Joseph Reed façade into the Old Commerce Building was the architectural disconnect between the two components. While the façade was designed for a two-storey structure, the Commerce Building was four storeys, creating a visible misalignment. This highlighted the façade as a fragment rather than a fully integrated architectural element. The result was an example of facadism—the preservation of a building’s street-facing elevation while the structure behind it is altered or replaced—a practice often critiqued for reducing heritage fabric to mere surface. In this case, the disparity between the Reed façade and the rest of the Commerce Building reinforced the perception of the façade as a historical artefact rather than a living part of the architecture.
With the redevelopment of the site for the new ABP building, a careful heritage approach was necessary to ensure the façade’s conservation as well as its sympathetic incorporation into a contemporary context. The new design, guided by the heritage significance of the place, consciously addressed the pitfalls of facadism by treating the Reed façade not as a decorative backdrop, but as a central, legible feature in dialogue with the building’s form and materiality.
The result was a thoughtful re-framing of the Reed façade—no longer an awkward graft on an incongruous structure, but a celebrated and meaningful historical element embedded within its new architectural surroundings.
Alongside the façade, the relocation and reconstruction of the Japanese Room, originally designed by Shigeru Yura in the 1960s, formed the other major heritage component of the project. Also supported by RBA through the preparation of a Conservation Management Plan, the Japanese Room was carefully dismantled and re-erected on the rooftop of the new ABP building, preserving its rare shoin-zukuri design and reinforcing the faculty’s longstanding connection to Japanese architecture.
Together, these works represent a model for sensitive heritage integration—one where fragments of the past are not only retained but reinterpreted in ways that honour their significance and extend their life into the future.
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