HERITAGE INSIGHTS

Patina can seem like a minor concern, but it is one of the main ways people recognise age and authenticity in heritage places. Weathered surfaces and traces of use help a place feel credible, not newly ‘made old’. Most projects must balance contemporary needs with retaining this evidence of time. The key is judgement: preserve meaningful patina where it contributes to experience, address genuine decay and hazards, and think ahead about how new materials will age alongside exi

'... there is a certain picturesqueness and old-fashionedness about Sydney, which brings back pleasant memories of Old England, after the monotonous perfection of Melbourne and Adelaide.' Richard Twopeny, Town Life in Australia , 1883. Until comparatively recently, reference to the ‘picturesque’ was a regular refrain in discussions of Australian architecture. The word has never really gone away. It is now everyday currency in heritage circles (and, with a bit less restraint