Heritage listed Bice Building at Lot Fourteen set to open

Bice Building and surrounding public realm

Bice is the last of the State Heritage listed buildings to be refurbished on the Lot Fourteen site with works to be completed next month.

The four-storey brick and render building, has architectural qualities which are significantly Edwardian in source.

The building has received a complete heritage façade upgrade and still maintains its stunning, original features while internally offering a flexible, state of the art workplace presenting open plan, blank space for fit-outs to be completed by tenants.

The public realm around the perimeter of the building links up the North Terrace to the west. A new glass canopy between McEwin and Bice buildings offers the public and occupants breakout, lunch and gathering areas underneath.

The history of the Bice Building

The Bice Building was the first of a planned six new buildings fronting North Terrace occupying what had originally been the gardens of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Work commenced in early January 1924 with a foundation stone being laid in August of that year, but the building was not opened until 1927. It was named after the recently deceased former Chief Secretary, Sir John Bice, who had done much to improve the Hospital as part of his Ministerial responsibilities.

Changes were made to the building in 1958 when additional rooms were added on the eastern side of the building at ground and first-floor level, and the front portico had an additional room added above with appropriate detailing to create a library internally.

The building was originally known as the Administration Building and contained offices, meeting rooms and other administrative services on the ground floor. The first and second floors provided accommodation for the resident medical officers and this included a library, billiard room, dining room and bedrooms. The third floor above was occupied by a large ward which was surrounded on three sides by balconies to encourage fresh air and foster natural ventilation.

With a north-south orientation, there was a maximum exposure to natural light on the east and west sides, and this encouraged cross ventilation, an important part of hospital design at this time.

The future of the Bice Building

Lot Fourteen brings together entrepreneurs and innovators from South Australia’s leading abilities in space, defence and hi-tech in a precinct designed and curated as a collaborative ecosystem.

Last month, LVX Global, an international technology solutions business, announced they’d be the first to move their global headquarters to Lot Fourteen from Perth.

The company plan to move 20 staff into Lot Fourteen’s soon to be completed Bice Building, and plan to double the company’s Adelaide headcount, with a bold global growth strategy firmly in place.

The high demand for space within Lot Fourteen makes the Bice Building, and its modern refurbishment, a highly sought out area within the innovation precinct.