colac estate housing precinct ho306 general information...restoration reinstatement of original...

Heritage Guidelines Colac Estate Housing Precinct HO306

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Colac Estate Housing Precinct HO306 General Information To determine whether your property is included in the Heritage Overlay or whether you need a permit contact: Colac Otway Shire Council Planning & Building Services (03) 5232 9400 or visit the Shire Council Offices at 2 Rae Street, Colac – Gellibrand Street entry. Further technical information and advice specifically related to how your property can be altered while retaining its heritage significance can be obtained from the Heritage Advisor at the Shire. Speak to a planner at the Council to make an appointment. It is strongly encouraged that applicants talk to Council’s Heritage Advisor at pre-application stage to discuss appropriate options for change. Purpose of these Guidelines The purpose of these guidelines is to provide advice to ensure that new work to places in the Colac Estate Housing Precinct retain the overall qualities which contribute to the precinct’s cultural heritage significance and do not detract from the significance of the precinct. The guidelines have been prepared to assist owners of heritage places in determining what may be acceptable in the development of their place. The key objective is to ensure that the historic places and their features are the dominant features of the streetscapes viewed by the local community and general public. Precincts In Colac Otway the precincts have been identified for protection in the Heritage Overlay because they demonstrate an important part of Colac Otway’s development history and typically because they: • Retain historically important street layouts and subdivisions; • Display consistency of scale, height and materials; • Display a stylistic consistency; and • Contain mainly historically or architecturally significant buildings, which are substantially

intact.


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Extent of HO306 – Contributory places shaded Statement of Significance What is significant? The Colac Estate Housing Precinct comprises residential properties in Queen Street, Johnstone Crescent, Selwood Street, Richard Street and Churchill Square, Colac. How is it significant? The Colac Estate Housing Precinct is of local historic and aesthetic significance to Colac Otway Shire. Why is it significant? The Colac Estate Housing Precinct is historically significant for its ability to illustrate State government's post war decentralisation policies and reflects planning philosophies that were emerging after the Second World War as increased powers were gradually devolved to local government. The Colac Estate Housing Precinct was one of the first housing estates commenced in country Victoria, and was the initiative of the Housing Commission and the Borough of Colac. The Colac Estate was commenced in the mid-1940s and completed by the early 1950s. The Estate was constructed to alleviate the severe housing shortage in Colac, and under the auspices of the government's post war decentralisation policy, which encouraged industry and labour to establish in regional areas outside metropolitan Melbourne. The Colac Estate Housing Precinct is historically important in demonstrating the materials adopted to alleviate building material shortage after the Second World War and attempts at improving construction efficiency through prefabrication. The houses and streetscapes of Queen Street, Johnstone Crescent, Selwood Street, Richard Street and Churchill Square typify the development and are regarded as the best and most intact representative examples of the public housing scheme in Colac. (Criteria A & B) The Colac Estate Housing Precinct is aesthetically significant as a collection of properties from the post World War Two period that share common elements of scale, siting, materials, roof forms and fences. The precinct is aesthetically significant for containing substantially intact standard design residences constructed for the Housing Commission in the post World War Two era. The residences reflect the typical characteristics of post World War Two Housing Commission design


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when there was a shortage of materials and labour requiring the use of simple standard designs and prefabricated elements that were easy to construct. The collection of houses retain key original features including overall composition, simple plans and forms, pitched roofs, original wall cladding materials, opening types and placement and lack of decoration. The curved streets, garden planting and fences and uniform design contributes to the significance of the precinct and differentiates it from a contemporary speculative residential development. (Criterion D)

Johnstone Crescent Curved streets Significant Characteristics and Features of the Precinct • The precinct includes single storey post WW2 standard design houses. • The houses have a similar scale with similar side and front set backs and pitched roof forms,

giving the streetscape a consistent appearance. This consistency contributes greatly to the significance of the precinct.

• While there is a general consistency in lot size, the layout of the streets means that some houses have a wide frontage to the street but are generally placed centrally on the allotment, with the short width of the block forming the street frontage.

• The general form to the houses is a long main wing with a hip or gable roof running parallel to the street with a short projecting wing of either a gable or hip running perpendicular to the street.

• Houses generally have a small porch over the main entrance and this may have a skillion roof or is incorporated under the main roofline or the roofline of the projecting front wing.

• There are repeated designs of housing, often as a coupling or in a row. • Houses predominantly have weatherboard wall cladding but there are a number of brick

dwellings also. • Both timber and brick houses have predominantly tiled roofs, but many roofs have been

replaced with corrugated metal sheet in more recent times. • With the lack of any other decoration, brick chimneys are a dominant feature of walls and

rooflines. The simplicity of the houses with a lack of any decoration is consistent across the precinct.

• There is a generally consistent scale and placement of windows. Original windows would have been timber framed and double hung and many of these remain, however a number of windows have been replaced with aluminium sliders.

• Generally properties do not contain garages and if they do, they are set back behind the dwelling. Some properties contain simple carports set back to the side or rear of dwellings.

• Common features visible in views across the precinct streetscape include pitched roofs, brick chimneys, front and side windows and front porches.

• The streets have grassy verges, concrete kerbing and narrow pavements with street planting.

Churchill Square


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Post-War Housing Estate Style

Post-War Housing Estate Style Key Characteristics § Generally the long elevation facing the street

with small entry porches to the front or side. § Wall materials, rendered cement sheet, brick

or weatherboard. § Originally timber framed windows of standard

sizes. Generally double hung. § Roofs simple with a main gable or low

ptiched hip with wide eaves. § Roofs clad in tiles or corrugated metal sheet. § Dominant plain chimneys. § Minimal use of decorative flourishes. § Neat ordered gardens with garden beds with

brick, concrete or stone edging. Paint Colours Timber weatherboards or rendered panels often painted in pale creams and ivory. Brick walls are face brick. Typical Fence styles Low cyclone wire fences or low timber paling fences.

Guidelines Initial steps Not all properties in the precinct contribute to the significance of the precinct but changes to both contributory and non-contributory places can impact on the precinct’s significance. The first step in commencing the design process is to determine whether your property is contributory or non-contributory to the Heritage Overlay Precinct. If your building is contributory you will initially need to gain an understanding of the significance of your individual property, the elements that contribute to this significance and its contribution to the streetscape value of the area. Understanding the significance of the heritage place will also assist in identifying areas of the site and building that can undergo change. If your building is non-contributory and you want to demolish the existing building and replace it with new development you will need to gain an understanding of the significant places in the precinct to ensure that the design of any new development will be sympathetic to this and will be recessive in streetscape views. Subdivision Due to the consistency of the lot sizes and small lot sizes, there is limited opportunity for subdivision in this precinct. Demolition Demolition of a contributory heritage building will not be supported unless it can be demonstrated that:


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• the building is structurally unsound, and • the original fabric of the building has deteriorated to such an extent that a substantial

reconstruction would be required to make the building habitable, and • the proposed replacement building will make an equal or greater contribution to the

streetscape than the building to be demolished. Partial demolition of contributory heritage buildings is allowable where the fabric to be demolished does not contribute to the significance of the precinct. There are often rear sections of a residence that cannot be seen from the street and therefore do not contribute to the significance of the precinct. Demolition of such sections to make way for a new addition is generally supported if the new addition is also sympathetic to the residence and streetscape. Partial demolition of contributory heritage buildings is allowable for the purpose of additions, only if the additions will not affect the heritage significance of the building and precinct. Restoration Reinstatement of original features such as original windows is encouraged. Reinstatement should be based on accurate information about the original appearance of the place. The same proportions of elements and quality of materials should be used as the original. Alterations and Additions Alterations and additions to contributory heritage buildings should retain significant characteristics and features and as much of the original fabric and exterior form and appearance as possible. Alterations and additions to significant heritage buildings should be recessive in design and not overwhelm or dominate the existing contributory heritage building or its significant features. There is limited opportunity for side additions unless well set back from the front line of the building. Upper storey additions should have minimum visibility from the street and should be set back so a substantially single storey appearance of the building is retained as viewed from the street. The original front form and features of the contributory building should remain the dominant element as viewed from the street.

Bad example of an addition that Good example of an addition that is overwhelms the existing residence recessive to the existing residence Alterations and additions to contributory buildings should be in keeping with the context of the heritage precinct in relation to setbacks, scale, form, pattern of openings, materials and detailing. The replication of historic detail in alterations and additions should be avoided. They obscure the understanding of the history and age of the place. Any new additions should be kept simple with minimal detailing, in keeping with the original houses.


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Queen Street New buildings in the Precinct Maintain the existing scale, massing, form and siting of contributory buildings in heritage precincts when designing new buildings. The replication of historic detail in new buildings should be avoided. They obscure the understanding of the history and age of the place. Design that reinterprets historic features in a contemporary or simplified manner is encouraged. New buildings should not visually dominate adjacent contributory buildings or the heritage precinct in terms of size, height or bulk. The design of new buildings should relate to and use as reference points the materials, colour and level of detail of adjacent buildings and the surrounding precinct. New materials may be introduced provided that they are complementary to the significance of the heritage place. Buildings should not be taller than adjacent contributory buildings unless in a heritage precinct where a pronounced variation in building height already exists. New buildings should be oriented to relate positively to contributory buildings and subdivision patterns and spatial qualities throughout the heritage precinct. New buildings should be setback the same distance from the front boundary as adjacent contributory buildings. Where there are two adjacent contributory buildings with different setbacks, the new building should be setback the average distance of those adjacent. Where one adjacent building is contributory and the other adjacent building is non-contributory, a setback consistent with the contributory building should be applied. The side setbacks of new buildings should be consistent with the rhythm of the precinct. New buildings should not obscure views to contributory buildings or their features. Individual architectural elements such as roof forms and openings must complement existing styles. The proportions and spacing of door and window openings should relate to those of adjoining contributory buildings and the surrounding precinct.

Selwood Street looking south


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Materials Cladding over weatherboards with faux weatherboard metal cladding is acceptable. Replacement of timber framed windows with aluminium windows that retain the same opening size and window mechanism is also acceptable. Replacement of tile roofs with corrugated colorbond is only acceptable if over 50% of the tiles on the roof require replacement due to poor condition. Zincalume is not an acceptable roof material in the precinct as it does not lose its shine and dominates views due to glare.

Churchill Square Painting The consistency of light coloured walls should be retained in this precinct. Darker tones can be used to highlight features of the building such as windows and eaves. Front Fences Retain the original timber framed mesh wire fences where extant. If these fences require replacement they should be reconstructed to match the original. New fences to other properties in the precinct should be no higher than 1200mm. Fences up to 1000 mm in height can be solid or permeable but fences above 1000 mm should be permeable. Car parking There should be no new crossovers to properties within the precinct. The existing garages do not contribute to the significance of the precinct and can be demolished and/or replaced. The design of new garages should be simple and should not contain replicated historical detailing. New garages should be set to the rear of dwellings. New carports are acceptable if kept simple and set back from the front of the dwelling.

Richard Street

colac estate housing precinct ho306 general information...restoration reinstatement of original...

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