Projects

2015

Judges House, 531 Kent Street, Sydney - CMP Professional Advice

Judges House, 531 Kent Street, Sydney - CMP Professional Advice
Elegant home at 531 Kent Street that was built for surveyor William Harper in 1827. It is the only example of an 1820s Colonial Georgian single storey bungalow to survive in the city. It was leased to the judge James Dowling from 1828 until 1831. In 1879 the house was sold to the City Night Refuge and Soup Kitchen trustees, who had been leasing the property since 1868. In the 1970s some of the outbuildings were demolished and the house sold to commercial owners and converted for use as a restaurant. Description: "Judge's House Kent Street | The Dictionary of Sydney." 18 Jan. 2021, dictionaryofsydney.org/building/judges_house_kent_street. Image: City of Sydney Archives [053459] (CRS 422, City Engineer's Department Negatives, 1980 - 1988)
ArchitecturalGovernmentalLocalSocial HistoryColonialLandscapeSydney - InnerHeritage AssessmentConservation Management PlansCommerce

Author: Dr Sue Rosen

Client: Capital Investments, The Judge’s House

Sue was contacted to review the Judges House Conservation Managment Plan 1998 and asked to advise the clients on whether it needed to be updated.

She reviewed the CMP, literature on CMPs from the Heritage Branch of NSW Environment & Heritage and of ICOMOS Australia and advised that the 1998 CMP should be renewed. This will ensure changes made to the building, Council’s development requirements and broader planning environment since 1998 are adressed, strengthening the Judge's Building protections and integrity for future generations.

An updated CMP also provides the opportunity to reassess the significance of the place; formulate specific recommendations to protect the Judge’s House in the current climate and re-evaluate the implementation of conservation policies since 1998. Sue recommended the setting of the building and its curtilage be re-evaluated, because as a domestic structure, and to express it’s full character, the Judge's House should be in a setting that emulates the domestic environment for which it was conceived, including side and rear gardens and access to light and air.