Docomomo International became aware by Docomomo Australia about the worrying situation of the current heritage-listed MLC Building. The MLC Building is set to be demolished under a development application for a new commercial office building submitted to North Sydney Council. The MLC Building has been an important part of the history and streetscape of North Sydney for over 60 years and remains one of the few buildings in the North Sydney CBD possessing any good civic or aesthetic qualities.

The design of the MLC North Sydney building commenced early in 1954 and by mid-1955 Council approval had been obtained for an office building that comprised a 15 storey high west office block, an 8 storey high east office block and an interlinking services tower. The two long thin office blocks rose from a one storey high podium, and with a gross area of 450,786 ft²  (41,880m²), it was on completion the largest office building in Australia.
The design owes its origins to the Berlin projects of Mies van der Rohe (Freidrichstrasse, 1921 and Reich Bank competition, 1933), and le Corbusier, in particular Centrosoyus in Moscow (1928-33) and the Ministry of Agriculture in Rio de Janeiro (1936-42). Characteristic of these buildings were the office slabs on a pilotis, with glazed curtain walls on the long facades terminated by narrow masonry–faced end walls, all set within landscaped open space.

The MLC Building has been listed as an item of environmental heritage on the various iterations of the North Sydney Local Environmental Plan since 1989.
The LEP listing’s Statement of Significance states:
“The first high rise office block in North Sydney and the largest for a number of years after its construction, the MLC Building in North Sydney is a seminal building on subsequent highrise design in Sydney and utilized construction and structural techniques not previously used in Australia. With the first use of a curtain wall design and the first use of modular units in Australia, its use of exceptional modernist building materials in the curtain wall facade and terracotta glazed bricks are representative of the Post-War International style of architecture that predominated in these early commercial high-rise buildings. The architect, Walter Osborn McCutcheon’s desire for his buildings to integrate modern art within the fabric of the design is demonstrated by the inclusion of significant artists such as Andor Mészáros and Gerald Lewers. As a result, and despite subsequent modifications, the interior, exterior and landscape setting are of high aesthetic, technical and representative significance. The building is also of historical, associative and aesthetic significance as an important work by a significant firm of architects Bates Smart and McCutcheon, and master builders Concrete Constructions, and as a landmark site at North Sydney which signified the transformation of the centre of North Sydney from Nineteenth Century town to the second commercial hub of metropolitan Sydney from the late 1950s.”

The building is at least of State significance and, because of the size, quality of the design, early date of construction and the national attention it drew upon opening (being opened by the Australian Prime Minister) it is of National importance in the development of Modernist architecture in Australia.
The building is a heritage item, currently listed as having Local significance but which has been recognized as having at least State, and possibly National, significance. Demolition of heritage items can only be justified in the most exceptional circumstances and every effort must be made to find compatible uses for heritage items and to apply re-use and refurbishment strategies. The evidence presented in the development application for the replacement of the MLC Building does not demonstrate in any detail that alternative strategies to demolition have been pursued with any rigor.

The proposal to demolish the building should be refused and alternative refurbishment strategies explored in detail. The building should be listed on the State Heritage Register as a minimum step in preserving the building and consideration should be given to listing it on the National Heritage List. An update of the 20 year old Conservation Management Plan should be undertaken before any decisions are made regarding the building’s future.

Please sign the petition to save the MLC Building!

Petition update [29 July 2020]
North Sydney Council has voted not to have the MLC Building listed on the SHR.
In the light of North Sydney Council not supporting its own heritage item, Docomomo Australia has written to the Heritage Council of NSW requesting that an IHO be placed on the building to further assess its significance and, following that assessment, to list the building on the SHR.

Petition updated [14 September 2020]
“At it meeting on 1 September 2020 the Heritage Council of NSW resolved to consider listing the MLC Building on the State Heritage Register.
Any members of the community are invited to make a written submission to the Heritage Council regarding the proposed listing and Docomomo Australia urges you to lodge a submission supporting its listing on the SHR before the closing date on 8 October 2020.
Submissions can be lodge at:
Heritage Council of NSW
Locked Bag 5020
PARRAMATTA NSW 2124

or

heritagemailbox@environment.nsw.gov.au”

Docomomo International Letter of Support: Support Letter_MLC Building.pdf

Information provided by Docomomo Australia.

To know more about the case, read the following news: link and link.