The Minister's Public Buildings Stonework Program was launched in 1991 as a twenty-year commitment to carry out maintenance on NSW government-owned heritage stone structures through Commerce.
Key goals of the program are:
The program was created due to the backlog of maintenance work required on state-owned heritage stone structures and was named the Centenary Stonework Program in reference to the Government Architect of 1899, Walter Liberty Vernon, who forecast that sandstone would require maintenance "in about a hundred years".
As a result of the program, a competitive heritage stonemasonry industry has developed in NSW and beyond, encouraging agencies to complete restoration of heritage buildings in conjunction with the program.
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Commerce manages the Centenary Stonework Program through its Programs Branch in conjunction with its Heritage Design Services (HDS) and Heritage Services (HS), also known as 'the Stoneyard'.
HDS provides conservation and architectural services while the Stoneyard was set up by Commerce to provide project management, construction and stone handling services and to produce work of consistently high quality while meeting escalating demands. The Stoneyard is the major employer of apprentices for the heritage stonework industry.
These services enable value for money through sound management, productivity improvements and through stabilising the price of stone. They also enable the following major functions to conserve the State's heritage stone structures:
- a Make Safe program
- the procurement of high quality stone
- developing heritage trade skills
- research and development
- data capture and maintenance
- a major capital works program
- a minor works program
Commerce developed a database for the program of some 600 structures around the state, listing their significance and condition, client categories and appropriate methods for conservation management. Work on the database is continuing, including the technical identification of stone type to enable better matching of stone supply, and the inclusion of photographs.
The database initiative is achieved through the collaboration of stakeholders from outside Commerce including:
- researchers
- stonemasons and other specialist trade groups
- suppliers and processors
- heritage architects
- landscape architects
- structural / civil engineers
- historians
- economists
- archaeologists
- geologists
- petrographers
Removing potentially unstable stone on buildings is a key priority of the program, costing approximately $100,000 each year. Projects that have undergone stone removal are then listed for repair.
High quality stone is now more available than at any time in the past 100 years. In 2000/01, Commerce (then DPWS) successfully negotiated the purchase of over 4500m3 of first quality yellowblock from the McCaffery's Hill site at Pyrmont. NSW Treasury has provided over $9 million in addition to the annual program's allocations for conservation work. While handling and storage costs prevail, the cost of conservation quality blocks has halved when compared to expectations of 1996.
The actions of Commerce have ensured stability of stone supply and continuing the momentum of the program ensures the best match of replacement stone to the original.
As a leader in the specialised stone conservation industry, Commerce has an ongoing responsibility in the training and support of a skilled pool of professionals and tradespeople through initiating:
- an apprenticeship program
- the George Proudman Stonemasonry Fellowship
- participation in the Heritage Trades Training Steering Committee - an inter agency committee for the development of trade skills in heritage conservation work.
The program also delivers a wide range of benefits to the State's ongoing support of cultural heritage. The management resolves the issues that individual government agencies face regarding the aggregation of resources and expertise to achieve quality restoration of stone structures.
Key benefits of the program result in maximising tourism, culture and recreation, in addition to providing support to the heritage industry Australia-wide, including trade skills, technical expertise and knowledge of heritage issues.
The selection of construction projects over the first ten years was focused on the high cultural and tourism benefits of conservation around the historic precinct of Macquarie Street and other notable city locations.
Regional areas were also given high priorities with the aim of reviving traditional skills in rural areas. Projects included Goulburn and Bathurst Courthouses.
Work on the Australian Museum, Government House, Sydney Observatory, Art Gallery of NSW, East Sydney College of TAFE and Supreme Court continue into the second ten-year period of the program. Additional major works proposed include the State Library, Sydney Hospital, Darlinghurst Court, and Department of Education projects.
A significant project of the first half of the Centenary Stonework Program is the work on the Palace Garden Gates that form the entrance to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Macquarie Street, Sydney.
For further information or to request a project sheet, please contact:
Ron Powell
Manager, Centenary Stonework Program
Tel: 02 9372 8526
Fax: 02 9372 8544
email: ron.powell@commerce.nsw.gov.au
