Sustainable winner a State Heritage first

A refurbished State Heritage listed building at Lot Fourteen has been recognised in South Australia’s premier architecture awards in sustainability and Heritage categories and is among the first in Australia to achieve the highest rating for sustainability.

The Startup Hub, formerly the Allied Health Building, fronting Adelaide’s North Terrace, has been recognised in the Royal Australian Institute of Architects’ SA Architecture Awards 2020 announced this month.

The Startup Hub won the Award for Sustainable Architecture and a commendation for Heritage Architecture. The entry was submitted by the project’s lead architect, JPE Design Studio.

The Startup Hub has been refurbished to create a series of dynamic interiors for innovation tenants.

The Startup Hub has achieved a 6-Star Green Star As-Built rating from the Green Building Council of Australia in recognition of factors including adaptive reuse, innovative solutions for precinct wide systems such as thermal plant, recycled water and waste management; emission reduction; and features to improve the health and wellbeing of building tenants, including end-of-trip facilities.

The five-storey Startup Hub was built in 1935 as an admissions and casualty wing for the former Royal Adelaide Hospital. Now as part of the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct, it houses a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and startups in a hub operated by Stone & Chalk and powered by FIXE (Future Industries eXchange for Entrepreneurship).

Lot Fourteen State Project Lead Diane Dixon said the Startup Hub had been refurbished to the highest standards to reflect the precinct’s aim of creating a collaborative ecosystem that encourages creativity and innovation and is an appealing place to work and to visit.

“The adaptive reuse of all the Heritage buildings and our new build projects at Lot Fourteen are all part of making SA a compelling, exciting and accessible destination for global companies and investors – and fostering high value jobs and lifelong careers in the industries of the future,” she said.

The Startup Hub is one of five Heritage buildings at Lot Fourteen which have been refurbished for adaptive reuse as modern workplaces. The remaining Heritage property, the Bice building, is under refurbishment and due for completion in early 2021.

The Startup Hub has been refurbished as a modern workplace that celebrate its Heritage character.

The refurbishment of all the Heritage buildings is supported by the State Government through a $425 million investment in the development of Lot Fourteen through the refurbishment and adaptive reuse of Heritage properties, demolition of obsolete buildings, and the creation of an extensive public realm.

In its citation for the Award for Sustainable Architecture, the RAIA SA noted that the Startup Hub was a “successful transformation of one of the oldest hospital wings of the relocated Royal Adelaide Hospital into a sustainable co-working hub”.

“The environmental sustainability requirements were successfully met while celebrating and enhancing the heritage character of the building, with social sustainability literally at the heart of the design,” the citation said.

“Permeable ground floor space with central services encourage social interaction and cross pollination between the various start-ups occupying the building, while minimizing environmental impact.”

On the Commendation for Heritage, the RAIA SA cited that the Startup Hub had been adaptively reused in an “innovative, sustainable and complementary manner”.

“The design team has transformed the existing austere institutional spaces of the building into a series of dynamic, distinctive interiors for a mix of innovation tenants.

“Intrusive later additions were removed, and significant heritage fabric has been carefully conserved to provide the backdrop for a mix of 21st century co-working spaces showcasing contemporary needs and the Heritage values of the place.”