Hayborough Building, Adelaide

Tectvs updated this heritage building to ensure the architecture created new opportunities for businesses in Adelaide's East End

The three-story Hayborough Building has been a presence on Rundle Street since the 1880s. Since being built, the building has provided a home for a kaleidoscope of traders within its various tenancies. However, amidst forever-changing retail and shopfront fashions, the Hayborough Building had reached the point where its street-level character became disconnected from its two-storey, well-mannered Renaissance-style facade. 

The first step for the architectural process was to stabilise the building; including addressing two floors that were utterly dilapidated and in danger of collapse. The next step was to reinvent the building functionally and aesthetically, including meeting heritage requirements, satisfying modern commercial demands as well as ensuring that the building complied with current standards.

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The design solution included refurbishment of the street-level treatments and canopies, the creation of flexible office space for the second and third stories and the upgrading of services, that were exposed and suspended within the areas. There was also a change of the address for the two office floors, with the entrance moving from a small doorway on Rundle Street to a newly built, exposed steel and glass entrance off Bent Street. The detailing and materials used for the new entry, cleverly reflect the industrial character of the inner-urban backyard, providing a sharp contrast to the Renaissance-style facade.