Location: Sydney, Australia.

Architect: Allen Jack+Cottier (AJ+C).

The Burcham’ in Rosebery provides a benchmark for urban infill housing where local heritage and character are preserved, and sustainability is further enabled with next-generation smart home technology. AJ+C’s winning scheme was the only submission to propose retaining and adaptively reusing the existing building, which was heritage listed in 2015. The factory is re-envisaged as residential warehouse apartments and integrates two new 4 and 5-storey apartment buildings, delivering 98 dwellings of varied typologies across the three buildings. The retention of the historic building fabric adds layers of richness to the built environment and ties it to the historic industrial uses and built heritage of Rosebery, creating a sense of authentic character and place. The Burcham is a unique project that combines the adaptive reuse of an existing building with landscaped setbacks, a private courtyard space, a rooftop retreat, solar power generation, an embedded electrical network, biometric access, remote “geofencing”, EV charging stations and high capacity fibre. It provides a high level of amenities, architectural design excellence, and exemplary sustainability features.