Below : Two-storey apartments on the top floor overlook Fremantle ’ s active port area . Each of the Wool Store ’ s 183 apartments occupies two bays of the buildings .
Cameron Chisholm Nicol associate director Deborah Binet says that the 1922 building was of historical significance and had a number of attractive features including the heritage brick facades as well as the internal timber columns , beams and struts spanning quite long distances .
“ It was structurally very sound , but it was very dilapidated , with most of it having been empty for several years ,” Binet says .
While the brickwork and columns needed some remedial work , and patches of floorboards needed replacing , it was the process of incorporating the 183 apartments into the original structure that was the real design challenge .
“ We started by inserting three apartment blocks into the large , square floorplate ,” she says . “ Then , by removing sections of roof sheets and floorboards , we cut two atriums into the space . That allowed us to get natural light into the centre of the development and into all the apartments .”
Apartment set-out was determined by the location of the existing jarrah columns – a complex task due to many of the structural elements not being square . Double loading the apartments in each block meant they all have balconies , providing either external or atrium views .
The drive to make the most of the existing character features included the floorboards .
“ The timber floors were all restored and we wanted to make sure they were visible . By building a new floor over the top , we could accommodate all the services and also provide the required fire rating and acoustic separation between apartments .
“ But the existing floors were then left exposed as the ceiling for the apartment below .”
While the ceilings are 3.6m high , all interior walls are offset from the existing columns and stop at 2.4m , being either open above or glazed . This allows clear views of the timber ceiling and facilitates maximum light penetration .
On both facades , existing window openings had to be retained . New aluminium windows were inserted for the apartments ’ interiors , while window openings to balconies were left unglazed to create protected outdoor space . On the Queen Victoria Street facade , new openings on the top floor were left frameless to distinguish them from the original windows .
Lloyd Clark says boutique , limited property has an intrinsic value that ’ s beyond market comparison .
“ When you add in an historical significance that demands the level of attention that Heirloom does , it ’ s hard to put a price on that – regardless of where we are on the property cycle .”
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