Beautiful buildings brought back from the brink
Historic masterpieces rescued from ruin
Neglected and unloved, a shocking number of heritage buildings are left to decay and far too many end up meeting the wrecking ball. The lucky ones are restored and repurposed for the 21st century – often with spectacular results. We take a look at eight beautiful historic buildings that were brought back from the brink. Click or scroll on to see their dramatic evolutions...
The Royal Hospital for Women, New South Wales, Australia
The State Library of New South Wales, Public Domain
Positioned on Flinton Street, The Royal Hospital for Women has been a local landmark of the city of Paddington, New South Wales, since it was built in around 1901. Formerly known as the Benevolent Asylum, the building was there to offer medical care to poor and disenfranchised women, most of whom were unmarried migrants, according to The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation.
The nurses working at the hospital dealt with thousands of admissions each year and in 1905, new gynaecological wards and operating theatres were opened and the halls were lit with electricity. Australia's first antenatal clinic was opened here by Dr. John Cadell Windeyer and his teachings shaped midwifery practices in the region.
In 1997, The Royal Hospital for Women was relocated to its current location in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney, leaving the hospital building vacant. Yet, luckily it wasn't empty for long and was soon saved from a fate of eternal abandon...
REA Group
In 2000, the former hospital was converted into homes as part of the acclaimed Paddington Green development. Various local firms, including Allen Jack+Cottier Architects, helped with the massive scheme, which saw old buildings and industrial sites turned into beautiful homes and lush community parks.
Varying in size, the apartments and homes inside the historic building are all unique. This one, which landed on the real estate market in March 2021 for AUD$4.25 million, which equates to $3 million (£2.3m), boasts signature curved walls, soaring ceilings and a free-flowing, 2,615-square-foot layout. Apartments located in the building's former matron's wing also come complete with original marble steps.
Other residences in the hospital's old northern wing offer city skyline views as far as the glittering Sydney Harbour. Of course, each apartment also comes with a stunning balcony, an original feature of the hospital's design.
Battersea Power Station, London, UK
Marco Saracco / Shutterstock
Built between 1929 and 1935, Battersea Power Station is undoubtedly one of London's most notable landmarks. Nestled on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Wandsworth, the property has a rich and important history – not to mention a truly iconic façade.
MOMENTUM / Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
During its prime, the coal-fired power station supplied a fifth of the city's energy, even supplying electricity to some of London's most important landmarks, including Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Constructed by the London Power Company, it remained active until 1975 when it was decommissioned for good.
In 1980, the station was placed on the National Heritage List for England and awarded Grade II*-listed status in 2007, protecting it from being demolished. Despite this, the beautiful building was left abandoned and quickly fell into a state of disrepair. That is, however, until a team of property developers decided to rescue it...
Battersea Power Station Estates
In 2012, Battersea Power Station was purchased by its current shareholders, SP Setia, Sime Darby Property and the Employees Provident Fund, for a reported £500 million ($665m). The following year, an extensive renovation project began, with the aim of transforming the 42-acre site surrounding the Power Station into a new community of homes, restaurants and green spaces. Of course, the historic building itself would play a key role in the redesign.
The scheme saw the live-in landmark turned into 250 high-end apartments, while the land surrounding it was developed to include a total of 800 new homes, as well as offices, cafes and independent businesses. Luckily, due to the building's listed status, the developers were told they had to retain its Art Deco structure, its six million bricks and its iconic chimneys, each of which towers up 164 feet. Now complete, the redevelopment scheme is one of the most successful projects of its kind.
@batterseapwrstn / Facebook
Today, the building offers luxury apartments that blend contemporary touches with plenty of period appeal. As well as displaying the building's original brick and steelwork, each apartment comes with floor-to-ceiling steel-framed windows and state-of-the-art appliances. Celebrities are even starting to see the appeal and singer Sting is said to own an apartment in the property.
Buffalo State Asylum, New York, USA
Christopher Paulin / Flickr [CC BY 2.0]
Dating back to the late 1800s, the Buffalo State Asylum was designed by distinguished architect Henry Hobson Richardson in the style that bears his name, Richardsonian Romanesque. The sprawling complex served as the state's principal psychiatric institution for over a hundred years.
Shannon O'Toole / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]
Buffalo's imposing asylum shut its doors in the 1970s and was pretty much left to rot, despite achieving National Historic Landmark status in 1986. The spooky abandoned building, which is said to be a hotbed of paranormal activity, fast became a magnet for ghost hunters and urban explorers.
In 2006, a lawsuit filed by a local preservation society forced New York State to conserve the endangered historic building. The buildings were stabilised, the grounds landscaped and plans were announced to transform part of the former asylum into a hotel and architectural centre.
Chris Payne / ESTO / Deborah Berke Partners
The first phase of the spectacular transformation was completed in April 2017 and the 88-room Hotel Henry opened to paying guests not long after. A slick glass and steel lobby graces the revamped complex, but the developers have been careful to preserve its historic integrity.
New York architectural firm Deborah Berke Partners collaborated with historic preservation agency Goody Clancy on the renovation project. They oversaw the painstaking restoration of a number of original features, including cornicing, tiles and the grand main staircase.
The stunning light-filled hotel has its very own restaurant serving sustainably sourced delicacies, not to mention a gym, office space, conference rooms and an architectural centre. And best of all, ghostly sightings have been few and far between since the dramatic refurbishment.
Hadlow Tower, Kent, UK
Jean-Pierre Declemy/Flick CC
This lofty early Victorian folly in the English village of Hadlow, Kent, was built for eccentric industrialist Walter Barton May in 1838 as an extension to his 17th-century country house. Measuring 170 feet, the structure is one of the tallest Victorian Gothic towers in the world.
Michael Roots [CC BY-SA 3.0] / Wikimedia Commons
The estate was sold in 1868 and eventually passed to the Pearson family, who left in 1946. The house was demolished in 1951, but the tower garnered listed status and was saved.
Strutt & Parker
The fairytale tower had various owners during the latter half of the 20th century, but sustained severe damage in the Great Storm of 1987 and fell into disrepair. The local council served a compulsory purchase order in 2010 and the tower was bought by the Vivat Trust, a preservation charity. £3 million ($3.9m) of public money was put into restoring the tower and it was opened to the public in 2013.
But its reinvention as a tourist attraction didn't last long. The Vivat Trust entered into liquidation in 2015 and was forced to sell the renovated tower, marketing the property as a quirky home. With four bedrooms, impressive high ceilings and panoramic views of Hadlow village, the interior is adorned with Gothic-style windows and honey-coloured wood accents, complemented by ornate details such as arched brick fireplaces and chandeliers.
The tower was snapped up by banker Christian Tym for a bargain £425,000 ($562k). After restoring the building further, including linking all eight floors with a fully-serviced lift and beautiful turret staircases, Tym put the property back on the market in 2016 for £2 million ($2.6m), but failed to find an interested party. It was then put up for sale again in 2018 and 2020, but it's unclear if a buyer was ever found.
Converted bakery, New South Wales, Australia
This striking building was originally built as a bakery at the turn of the 20th century, but it was later expanded in 1921 and run as a clothing factory until the late 1980s. After that, the historic and eye-catching building was vacated and left unloved, until owner Bob Miller purchased the property 27 years ago for AUD$650,000 ($463k/£349k).
Located in the bohemian neighbourhood of Newtown, the former industrial property is now a stunning home that's considered to be one of most magnificent in the area, and it's really no wonder. The property still boasts its iconic original façade, but inside the old warehouse and bakery has been meticulously and beautifully restored. Proving that old, redundant buildings can be saved and transformed into something beautiful, this space is now one of the most impressive homes we've ever stepped inside.
Situated on a corner plot, the unique historic home occupies a huge 5,478-square-foot block and boasts almost 9,700 square feet of internal and external space across two floors. Inside, every living space offers large proportions, industrial elements and original features, including structural steel columns, exposed ceiling rafters and brick walls.
Of course, the building has been sensitively converted to meet the needs of modern living without taking away from its heritage. There's an open-plan living room, complete with a dining zone, kitchen and lounge, while huge floor-to-ceiling bifolding doors open up the space to the garden.
Upstairs you can find six bedrooms with vaulted ceilings and Roman-inspired design details, as well as four bathrooms, numerous private sitting nooks, a library, an office and a gallery. The building is so vast that it even offers scope for a separate, self-contained three-bedroom home with a private entrance, according to the listing.
From the front of the former bakery, you'd never know it was harbouring such an incredible courtyard. Complete with an outdoor swimming pool, sunbathing deck and lush greenery, this open-air yard is a private paradise in the heart of one of Australia's most bustling cities. In September 2020, the amazing property sold for AUD$5.8 million ($4.1m/£3.1m), and we're sure it was worth every single penny.
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