DOCOMOMO Australia petitions to save MLC Building in North Sydney

MLC Building, North Sydney (Image: Max Dupain)

The MLC Building (by Bates Smart McCutcheon, 1954-57) is proposed for demolition.  The MLC Building, 105-153 Miller Street, North Sydney, is the most significant large office building dating from the 1950s in Australia. It is an important component in the development of North Sydney and makes a significant contribution to the streetscape.

DOCOMOMO (Vice-Chaired by ACAHUCH Co-Director Hannah Lewi), in their Change.org petition note the buildings value and the lack of certainty regarding the buildings current heritage listing.

It is listed on the North Sydney LEP as an item of Local Significance, it is listed on the Australian Institute of Architects Register of Nationally Significant 20th Century Architecture, and it is listed on both the Docomomo Australia and Docomomo International Registers.

The proposal for the MLC Site by Bates Smart (Image Source: Bates Smart)

Bates Smart, the modern day iteration of the original firm who designed the building, are the architects for the new proposal (shown above). According to ArchitectureAU, Bates Smart indicated in their planning submissions that "it had worked with the building’s owners for more than a decade to find a way to refurbish it, but the plan was eventually deemed unviable because of an “unsympathetic relationship to the heritage of MLC [and] overshadowing of [the adjacent] Brett Whiteley Place.”

DOCOMOMO urges the public to consider making a submission directly to North Sydney Council here., listing referencing the DA number Development Application DA 147/20 and stating your objections to the proposed demolition. The DA advertising period ends Friday, 7 August 2020.

They highlight the following reasoning for the submissions to reconsider the proposal below:

• We urge North Sydney Council to refuse the current Development Application that requires the demolition of the MLC Building.
• We request the Heritage Council of NSW urgently issue an Interim Heritage Order.
• We request the Heritage Council of NSW to list the MLC Building on the State Heritage Register.
• We urge the owners, North Sydney Council and the Heritage Council to consult regarding the future of this exceptionally important work of architecture of the post-war period.

Respondents to the planning submission may wish to note that the Heritage Impact Statement, by the RPS Group, dated 28 November 2019, fails to address the significance of the MLC Building and does not follow either the NSW Heritage Council guidelines for the preparation of Statements of Heritage Impact or the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter process for managing places of cultural significance.

MLC Site by Bates Smart (Image Source: DOCOMOMO Australia)

This important building should be saved for future generations.

KEY STATISTICS (DOCOMOMO)

architects Bates, Smart & McCutcheon
type Commerce
date of commission 1954
date of completion 1957
listing/protection North Sydney Local Environmental Plan RAIA NSW Chapter – Register of 20th Century Buildings of significance National Trust of Australia (NSW) – Register
current use Office Building
current condition Altered, 1990s
address 105-153 Miller Street North Sydney 2060
gps 33º 50′ 16.988” S/151º 12′ 28.376” E
submitted by Peter McKenzie in 2004, docomomo Australia
download Docomomo Fiche: MLC Building (pdf)
fiche editor Peter McKenzie, September 2004