A colonial country hospital almost totally destroyed by fire more than two decades ago has won the top prize in the National Trust of Australia (NSW) heritage awards.
The recognition of heritage architecture and conservation projects in the built and natural environment takes place across each state annually. New South Wales staged its awards on Friday, announcing 20 winners across 10 categories.
The revival of Old Bega hospital was described by judges as “sensitive, elegantly resolved and a project that sets the standard for heritage conservation”.
The judges’ choice award recognised Design 5 Architects, which used archival drawings and historical photographs in its design, for its ability to “balance the delicate question of when to retain and when to replace”, the judges said.
The collection of buildings on the outskirts of Bega served as the local hospital from 1889 until 1956. By the 1980s the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and were extensively restored for the hospital’s centenary – and Australia’s bicentenary – in 1988.
The buildings and grounds were subsequently used by the community as an art gallery, cafe, marketplace and local radio station headquarters, but a fire in May 2004 tore through the main building and it turned out the property, owned by Crown Lands, was not insured. It would take another nine years for the second restoration to begin.
The project was partly funded by a $1.5m commonwealth Black Summer Bushfire Recovery grant, and fundraising efforts from the Friends of the Old Bega Hospital community group. Restoration was completed in December.
The heritage awards also recognised architects Neeson Murcutt Neille, for their restoration of workmen’s dwellings in Lower Fort Street at Sydney’s historic Dawes Point.
The architects had carefully and cleverly resolved an “architecturally tricky” challenge, judges said, preserving the original historic streetscape while converting dilapidated non-compliant public housing sold off by the NSW government in 2017 into 27 light-filled apartments.
The Aboriginal heritage prize went to the 2024 commemoration project Dhuluny: 200 years of Wiradyuri Resistance, in Bathurst.
Led by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation in collaboration with Bathurst council, Dhuluny was a series of events held over a week in August to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the declaration of martial law and the ensuing frontier violence on Wiradyuri country. Celebrating the survival and resilience of the Wiradyuri people, the series included multiple local Indigenous cultural workshops, a conference at Charles Sturt University, a community film festival and an exhibition called Dhuluny: The war that never ended.
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The president of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), Kathryn Pitkin, awarded the president’s prize to the National Herbarium of New South Wales for its mass scale digitisation of more than one million plant specimens and 250 years of botanical research – a project she described as “awe-inspiring”.
The Port Macquarie Historical Society Inc. won th eadvocacy award, in recognition of its 70-year contribution to heritage protection in the Port Macquarie region.
The chief executive of the National Trust (NSW) Debbie Mills, remarked on the impressive geographical spread of the winners: as far afield as Broken Hill, where HSR (Aust) Group and architecture and heritage adviser Elizabeth Vines won for their revival of the dilapidated Pirie Chambers building in Argent Street. The project won the education and interpretation award for its training of local workers in specialised restoration skills.
Friday’s ceremony was presented by Richard Morecroft and speakers included the former premier of NSW Bob Carr, minister for heritage Penny Sharpe and the awards’ jury Chair Matthew Devine.
Heritage NSW Acting Executive Director, Elizabeth Owers, praised the “depth of talent” in the state. “Communities across the state, from metropolitan centres to regional areas, are the beneficiaries of these outstanding contributions,” she said.
