Ten years in the making, the restoration of the Treacy Precinct by m3architecture is well worth the wait.
The restoration of St Joseph’s Nudgee College’s heritage listed Treacy Precinct really is something special. Years of unsympathetic renovations had stripped it of its character and its circa-1891 U-shaped configured buildings had been left largely abandoned.
It needed to be shown some love, but more importantly, its original architectural intent needed to be shown some respect. Thankfully, m3architecture did just that. In the process, the Brisbane-based practice transformed the historic Queensland site to its original appearance, while also updating the interiors to deliver modern learning environments.
“We were able to identify the physical aspects of the Treacy Precinct that had been lost over time through careful archival research,” says m3architecture Director Ben Vielle.
“It was about trying to find new ways of rediscovering these physical aspects, whether via the form of the buildings or their function, in order to basically bring the precinct back to life.”
The project additionally involved the removal of the Gallagher Building addition that cut off important campus connections, along with the uncovering of Mary’s Tower, which had been largely concealed with concrete. Visual and physical connections through to the adjacent Chapel and Ross Oval and its heritage timber grandstand were returned and light once again pours into the tower’s stunning internal stairwell.
