“Iconic steel stairs in an iconic building, with simply spectacular views…….”
Overview
Idyllically located in The Rocks and surrounded by Sydney’s most famous icons, the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Campbell’s Store is a State Heritage listed landmark dating back to 1839, a rare example representing a mid-nineteenth century sandstone style warehouse.
Campbell’s Stores demonstrates the evolution and importance of Sydney Cove for maritime trading activities and has a incredible cultural, historical and natural connection with the area. The building is a superb example of masonry warehouses that once were common on the shores of Sydney Harbour and demonstrates the evolution of increasingly large warehouses and the way they were used. Many of the Campbells buildings are still fitted with the original winching equipment.
As the jewel of the Rocks area, Campbells stores underwent a very significant recent restoration by the award-winning architect Johnson Pilton Walker and delivered by renowned local builders Buildcorp. Comprising of three main components: remediation, renewal and adaptive re-use, the historic precinct has been returned to its former glory and is now a high quality dining precinct with arguably some of the best views in Sydney.
In what was a challenging built environment, with heritage restraints and building anomalies (nothing was square or level!) , Active Metal installed 6 flights of stairs, each with a solid steel plate balustrade. Sizing of each stair was minimal to reduce the visual impact on the building and to fit within the constraints of existing joists and beams. Complementing the stairs were glass void edge balustrades. Additionally in 3 of the bays, Active completed the steel and glass lift shafts. One of the other stand out features was the glass floored bridge which allows visitors to walk out to the central look-out window in order to take in the unimpeded views of Circular Quay. Less obvious works but very important elements included the exceptionally heavy waler beams installed to restrain the buildings facade.
Architect: Johnson Pilton Walker
Client: Tallawoladah Pty Ltd
Builder: Buildcorp
Photographer: Matthew Lynch
Location: 7-27 Circular Quay West, The Rocks
Work Completed by Active Metal
Design development, structural steel stairs in bays 1,3,6,9, steel plate balustrades to stairs, stainless handrails, glass bridge, waler beams, lift shaft steel and glass in bays 3,6,9, paint finishes, nosings & tactile indicators
See also Steel Plate Balustrades
