Boiler House Proposal submitted to Council

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The proposal to demolish, and re-purpose the Amcor Boiler House has been submitted and received by Yarra Council.

This is following the Minister for Planning considering a recommendation by the Heritage Council for the registration of the boiler house on the Victorian Heritage Register and determining not to include the building on the Register.  The proposal will construct 2 buildings on the site, ranging from 3-7 storeys high in the Mixed Use Zone covered in the Development Plan Overlay (DPO).

Part of the existing building will be demolished, part kept and rebuilt

The new building will keep part of the existing structure and re build it. From plans and images accompanying the proposal, the look of the industrial buildings and chimney will stay, and a public open space will be next to the new building.

A view showing the repurposed section

Dwelling mix

The new buildings will contain:

  • 104 dwellings
    • 21 x 1 bedroom dwellings;
    • 73 x 2 bedroom dwellings; and
    • 10 x 3 bedroom dwellings
  • 133 car parking spaces located in 1.5 basements accessed from Joel Terrace; and
  • 135 bicycle spaces

Public Space

The area around the boiler house is one of the significant public space areas in the development. It’s expected to have a large open area & amphitheater with good pedestrian thoroughfare to the river and open sunny access.

Building heights

A height of 3-7 storeys is within the building envelope is proposed. The earlier DPO, talked about heights of 5 storeys along Chandler Highway, 2-3 along the river, and that the boiler house site itself would be consistent with the old building. The chimney is included in images in the proposal, but is not included in the ‘building height’, either before or after the development.

  • Old building heights
  • Proposed building heights
  • Total site plan
  • Extract from the DPO

Heritage value

This proposal has been contentious, as the old building construction had heritage value (due to the glass ‘curtain wall’ construction).

Asbestos used in the building makes preservation difficult, however, and more accessible examples of the style are around, including in the CBD. Demolition was supported by the member for Northcote, Kat Theophanous and was approved by the Minister for Planning, Richard Wynne following the Heritage Council listing it for preservation.

For More information

Yarra Council documents can be found at https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/the-area/planning-for-yarras-future/current-projects/alphington-paper-mill