Dairy Farmers Towers

Dairy Farmers Corner at 924 Hunter Street, Newcastle West is one of Newcastle's most recognisable landmarks, its 1938 Art Deco clock tower marking the end of the Tudor Street view corridor for generations of Novocastrians. The site was established by the Dairy Farmers' Co-operative Milk Co. Ltd., which commenced Newcastle operations in 1917 and redeveloped the site in the late 1930s into a state-of-the-art receiving, processing, distribution and office complex. Designed by Dairy Farmers' in-house architect Alva Charles Likely, the building drew boldly on contemporary European and American architectural trends, incorporating buff and chocolate brick, faïence tile, glass blocks, neon signage and a striking milk bottle-shaped tower window filled with glass bricks. Clock faces on the east and west façades of the tower were originally illuminated at night, proclaiming "Precious As Time, Dairy Farmers Milk," and the building's unmistakable silhouette at the junction of the Sydney and Maitland roads made it a corporate landmark of rare distinction. It remains a rare and significant example of industrial Art Deco architecture surviving in the Newcastle CBD.

When the Dairy Farmers' enterprise relocated from the site in the early 1990s, the complex was largely demolished and redeveloped as a car dealership, with only the clock tower retained. By the time Thirdi Group brought forward their proposal for a new mixed-use development comprising commercial, retail and high-rise residential uses, the tower was obscured by decades of street tree growth, its existing heritage listing offered only a single inadequate sentence of significance, and the challenge of sensitively integrating a locally listed Art Deco icon into a contemporary high-rise development was considerable.

Thirdi Group engaged Heritas to provide heritage consultancy services to support the development application. A comprehensive assessment of the site's historical development, existing fabric and heritage significance was undertaken, including a substantially expanded Statement of Significance that properly articulated the tower's exceptional historical significance and high aesthetic, social and technical value, establishing it as a powerful symbol of Newcastle's co-operative industrial heritage and a rare remnant of the Art Deco style applied to industrial architecture in a regional Australian city. A heritage integration plan and photographic archival record were also prepared to guide and document the sensitive incorporation of the tower within the new development.

On site, Decode engaged our team to prepare a schedule of conservation works and heritage induction material, ensuring all contractors understood the significance of the place and their obligations in protecting the iconic tower throughout the works. Construction is currently underway, and when complete the project will see one of Newcastle's most beloved landmarks unveiled and celebrated at the heart of the city's evolving west end, given new life as the centrepiece of a development that unapologetically embraces the modern complexity of Newcastle's future alongside the stories of its past.

https://thirdigroup.com.au/project/dairy-farmers-towers-wickham/

https://ckds.com.au/dairy-farmers-corner-gets-a-new-lease-of-life/