32 Waymouth Street, Adelaide

The existing structure was seen as an opportunity to communicate a new existing social precinct

Following talk of an impending interim heritage listing, 32 Waymouth Street started the design process as a cry for help. The existing built fabric was indicative of the city’s uneven development and was of poor quality. What transpired was a total reinvention of an otherwise doomed building. Tectvs actively engaged with the presented heritage of the old corner building to form a positive dialogue between old and new. To us, the project represented an opportunity to deliver a new and exciting social precinct.

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As part of our design approach, we opted to keep the existing built envelope and transform the old, tired internal spaces into spaces that would rarely sleep at all. The project was complicated; it not only required the rehabilitation of the old building; our design also had to integrate with an adjoining contemporary building. What transpired was the complete gutting of the old building, leaving only the perimeter façade and floors that connected to the adjoining structure. Tectvs’s architectural solution included the creation of new commercial and retail spaces that encouraged social interaction, including a large first-floor function area, an expansive all-weather rooftop terrace, and ground floor street-facing retail space. A new side entrance served to activate the adjacent lane-way, and some existing street art was retained to provide even more character to both the building and the local area. 

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32 Waymouth Street is once again a valued fragment of the city’s remnant fabric to form part of a revitalised precinct of the Adelaide CBD.