Heritage listing

The site has heritage listings at both state and local government levels. It is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register and under the Wingecarribee Local Environment Plan (WLEP). The site’s history and heritage elements are comprehensively covered in the Conservation Management Plan (CMP).

An important element of a CMP is its role in defining how adaptive reuse can revitalise a heritage site. It is widely recognised by heritage professionals and governments that the adaptive reuse model ensures proper management, conservation and protection of a site into the future, and allows sustainable outcomes for the site and the community.

Conservation Management Plan

A Conservation Management Plan (CMP) is a comprehensive document that provides guidance on how to manage the significance of a heritage site. The purpose of a CMP is to identify the heritage significance of a place and guide the conservation and management of its significance. It is also intended to assist property owners and occupiers to manage ongoing maintenance requirements and any future adaptive reuse and development. The CMP that has been developed for the Berrima Correctional Centre provides a detailed analysis of the place, its history and cultural heritage significance and its context. The analysis results in conservation policies that are to be adopted by all owners and users of the place

Adaptive reuse

Adaptive reuse is the process of modifying a place or building for a compatible alternative purpose while retaining its cultural heritage value. A good adaptation is sympathetic to the place, its existing components and its historic context, and one that makes changes that enhance and complement the identified heritage values of the place.

Respectful, innovative and high-quality adaptive reuse projects can bring fresh life to a place and improve its long-term financial and environmental sustainability. Recent successful adaptive reuse projects in NSW include:

  • Carriageworks, North Eveleigh (contemporary performing arts centre for theatre, experimental dance and acrobatic theatre housed in the former Eveleigh Carriage Workshops, adjacent to Sydney’s main rail corridor);
  • South Eveleigh & the Locomotive Workshop (an industrial-era precinct transformed into a dynamic commercial and retail hub integrating a contemporary industrial museum);
  • Tramsheds Harold Park (heritage restoration project, salvaging and reinterpreting the iconic Tramway Depot to create a unique food destination – housing providores who are passionate about food, sustainability and education. Brought back to life, the building is now a much-loved destination for the local community as well as domestic and international visitors);
  • Hinchcliff House, Quay Quarter Lanes, Sydney (One of Sydney’s last remaining wool stores (1860-1881), conserved and adapted as a multi-level hospitality venue in the city’s heritage heartland);
  • Capella Hotel, Sydney (early 20th century sandstone building formerly housing the NSW Department of Education and repurposed as a luxury hotel);
  • White Bay Power Station, Sydney;
  • The Mint, Sydney CBD (adaptive reuse of an 1816 general hospital for convict patients, now home to Museums of History NSW’s head office, the Caroline Simpson Library, the Bullion Store cafe and various venue hire spaces. The Mint is the oldest surviving public building in the Sydney CBD);
  • Smoky Cape Lighthouse Keepers’ Cottages, Hat Head National Park (conversion of historic lighthouse Head and Assistant Keepers cottages into commercial accommodation);
  • George Patterson House, Sydney (late 19th Century showroom and warehouse repurposed as Establishment Hotel – a hospitality venue, restaurant, bar and boutique hotel)
  • Irving Street Brewery (formerly the old Kent Brewery) in Sydney’s Central Park neighbourhood
  • Joynton Street Creative Centre, Green Square Town Centre, Sydney. Former nurses’ accommodation block within the historic South Sydney Hospital site transformed into a creative centre with artist studios, workshop spaces and offices
  • Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Oxford Street, Paddington. Former water board reservoir transformed into community garden space & public park

Examples of adaptive reuse gaol conversions include:

  • Pentridge Prison, Coburg, Victoria (heritage listed penal establishment from 1851 , now a multi-venue precinct)
  • Liberty Hotel, Boston, USA (formerly Charles Street Gaol, now a luxury hotel); and
  • Hotel Wilmina, Berlin (formerly a courthouse and women’s prison then a juvenile detention centre, now a luxury hotel)
  • Oxford Prison, Oxford Castle, Oxford United Kingdom (now Malmaison hotel)

Refer to the Adaptive Reuse page of this web site for a selection of these projects with photo’s and descriptions.

“Cities and towns across the state invariably benefit when their buildings are creatively designed and functional. (…) Alongside that, we need to protect the history and character that makes our state unique. Adapting heritage buildings to creative new uses helps to achieve both these goals. Put simply, heritage buildings need to be used to be appreciated and provide the greatest value to the community. Once a building’s function becomes redundant, adapting it to a new use provides for its future.”
(New Uses for Heritage Places – Guidelines for the the Adaptation of of Historic Buildings and Sites – NSW Heritage Office, NSW Department of Planning and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) )