SYDNEY & MELBOURNE HERITAGE CONSULTANTS

Touring the Past is an independent heritage consultancy working across Sydney and Melbourne. We help custodians of historic places sustain, adapt, and re-imagine the past.

Heritage is never fixed — it is layered, contested, and always evolving.

We believe the past must be in a dialogue with the present to create outcomes that endure. Our work is grounded in cultural history, local context, and clear-eyed analysis.

Purposeful. Proportionate. Principled. We deliver insight, clarity, and workable outcomes across projects of every scale.

Need heritage guidance?
Contact our experts to find out how we can help.

Heritage Services

Heritage Impact Statements

Heritage Advice

Research and History

Conservation Management Plans

Photographic Archival Recordings

Heritage Interpretation

In our Client's Words

Popular Heritage Insights

Is Your Melbourne Property Affected by a Heritage Overlay? Initial Heritage Advice | Touring the Past

Planning alterations, an extension, demolition or redevelopment to a Melbourne property affected by a Heritage Overlay can raise important questions. Touring the Past provides independent heritage advice to help identify key constraints and opportunities early. Book a free, no-obligation online heritage project discussion of up to 30 minutes with us.

Aug 15

The Burra Charter’s cautious approach still holds. But the ‘as little as possible’ refrain is too readily turned into a default ‘no’ — Heritage consulting Sydney and Melbourne

The Burra Charter’s ‘do as much as necessary, and as little as possible’ is a useful discipline, but in Melbourne and Sydney it is too often used as a polite shut-down. If we cannot explain what is actually ‘necessary’ — and for what outcome — ‘as little as possible’ becomes a comforting default rather than a test. Keep the maxim. Stop using it as a veto stamp. Identify the real risks to the place, then design the tightest intervention that genuinely addresses them without er

Jan 27

Heritage ‘Breathing Space’: Why Architectural Pauses Matter

When new architecture meets old in Sydney or Melbourne, the gap between them is never just empty space — it’s a design tool. A recess, screen, or setback makes it clear what is historic and what is new, allowing each to be understood on its own terms. Like a pause in music, separation gives weight to what comes before and after, encouraging reflection rather than confusion. Far from wasted space, these gaps honour history, sharpen design, and let contemporary interventions co

Oct 18, 2025

Heritage Impact Assessments: Why Junctions Matter

Ensuring that transition between significant fabric and an addition is vital to the success of a heritage project.

Jun 13, 2020

Our Professional Affiliations

Art Deco and Modernism Society of Austra

International Association for Impact Ass

Society of Architectural Historians Aust

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Touring the Past acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land and pays respect to Elders past, present, and emerging. We honour First Peoples and their unique cultural and spiritual relationships to Country and their contribution to our society and history. To that end, all our work seeks to uphold the idea that if we care for places, they will care for us.