Monday, April 4, 2011

Former Creative Living Centre Building Burnie - Industrial Sawtooth Design

As you enter the Industrial township of Burnie, there are an amazing range of Industrial Modernist structures, some still in use and others abandoned, only their walls stand as reminders of a past that is fading. One such example is an interesting sawtooth designed Industrial Building. It has been causing some publicity of late in the local media.

Burnie Tourism Association president Allan Leeson comments about the former Creative Living Centre building (The Advocate Newspaper "Burnie eyesore still standing" 25/3) He fails to consider the possibilities of adaptive reuse of the site. The building has become a health hazard because it has been left to rot, and cleaning up the site and reusing the building would surely be as cost effective as demolishing it. There are many good examples of buildings that have been in far worse condition and have been cleaned up and reused for a multitude of purposes.

In a climate of economic uncertainty, I cannot imagine a replacement building would be anything as impressive as the wonderful "saw-tooth" design.

Too many buildings are hastily demolished and what takes their place is nothing special, usually just another unattractive car parking space. To get rid of a building simply on the premise that it's an eyesore and a health hazard, which Mr Leeson points out, is simplistic and fails to recognise Burnie's Industrial heritage and the possibilities of adaptive reuse in a time of economic uncertainty.

4 comments:

  1. Love them! I was just saying to my husband as we were driving past some factories a couple of hours ago, what a great shape those saw toothed roofs would be for a domestic home...even better converting a building like the one in your pic into a home (without stuffing it up of course!) We have always liked roofs and buildings like these.

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  2. Yes Kylie, they would make fantastic conversions into homes and other uses. The light that floods in as a result of the sawtooth design would be brilliant and much needed in Tasmania!

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  3. i don't know why there is not more going on with this kind of design. Simple and effective, 'green'and spacious. So much could be done with the existing architecture for office or living spaces. New buildings tend to have that industrial/shed look, so why not use what's there?

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  4. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. But then, that is what makes architecture such an interesting art, because it surrounds our everyday lives, so everyone has an opinion.

    But for me, this building is a thing of beauty ~ from the wonderful saw tooth roofline {a personal favourite and one I try to use whenever possible because it works so well in Australia with our climate} and the wonderful contrast of materials.

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About the project

Join me (Thomas Ryan Photography) on a photographic project documenting Tasmanian 20th Century Modernism from the 1930's to the 1980's. The entire project gallery of 1000+ images and counting can be viewed on my website www.tryanphotos.com under art projects. I have been undertaking this project for over a decade.

My portfolio of commercial and art projects can be seen on my website www.tryanphotos.com and I can be contacted here as well. All photographs are copyright of Thomas Ryan Photography. Unauthorised use is prohibited. Contact me for all enquires

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