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Rising from the ashes The refurbishment and development of Rosebank’s historical fire station by ARC Architects respects the heritage and character not just of the building, but the neighbourhood, too. PHOTOGRAPHY JUSTUS VAN DER HOVEN (JNR)
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he Rosebank Fire Station is the second oldest building in Rosebank, and dates to 1935. (The old Post Office, now the Monarch Hotel, is the oldest.) Not only is the fire station a heritage building, but it is also an architectural cornerstone of the Rosebank CBD. “People are passionate about the legacy of the building,” says architect Justus van der Hoven (Jnr) of ARC Architects, who were also developers of the project. “It’s a real landmark.” Although the Fire Department still operated from the building when ARC Architects acquired it, the rest of the building had been rezoned and had been converted into office space in the 1990s. ARC Architects planned to increase the office space, but at the same time, they were mindful not just of the character of the building, but also of the unique character of the Rosebank CBD. “We wanted to build on its heritage and enhance the legacy of the fire station,” says van der Hoven. He refers to the area’s pedestrian-friendly streets and walkability – the human scale of the street-facing buildings, and the fact that Rosebank has historically supported a “community of offices”, i.e. a variety of small businesses rather than being dominated by corporate behemoths. The architecture of the historic fire station exemplifies that neighbourhood character. Apart from observing the heritage restrictions on the building itself, Van der Hoven was adamant that he would retain the architectural scale
Rosebank’s historical fire station retains its historical street-level character and identity, while the new section, which rises from the central courtyard, draws on its scale and proportions to break up its bulk and reduce its mass so that it remains a "background building".
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