Hotel, Tourism Plans for Berrima Gaol Revealed

A plan to redevelop the historic Berrima Gaol into tourist facilities and a 55-key hotel has gone on exhibition.

The 2.1ha heritage site at 2-4 Argyle Street and 30 Wingecarribee Street is about 130km south-west of Sydney, in the centre of the Southern Highlands town of Berrima and overlooking the Wingecarribee River.

Australia’s oldest continually licensed pub, The Surveyor General, and the hatted restaurant Eschalot, are on neighbouring blocks.

The $30-million proposal by Blue Sox Developments would replace wardens with wellness facilities, as well as a function centre, restaurants and a bar. However, guests won’t be staying in cells as the bulk of the hotel component would be outside the prison walls and along the riverbank.

An alternative design, which would put the hotel component inside the walls, was discarded as it “undermine[d] the project’s cultural, social, and civic aspirations”, according to the proposal.

Blue Sox acquired the site from the NSW government in 2022, with plans already in place for a hotel and entertainment precinct. Construction is mooted to begin in 2026 and has a 12-18 month timeframe for completion.

Sandstone structures in the complex date back to the original 1839 completion date, while a vegetable garden on the grounds was planted by inmates in the 1890s. The original layout featured a distinctive “partial panopticon” and was one of the few prisons in the British colonies with this design, which was considered in its inclusion on the heritage register.

▲ While hotel rooms would be outside the prison walls, facilities would be on the inside.

It operated briefly as a rabbit meat processing facility, exporting to Germany before World War I made that industry unviable. The gaol was repurposed as an internment camp for German prisoners during that period and from 2001 to 2020 was intermittently used as a minimum security correctional facility.

Although Berrima has a population of about 1200, the town draws tens of thousands of visitors a year, according to the proposal.

The cohesive Georgian sandstone architecture in the town is a major drawcard, and is one of Australia’s few intact colonial settlements.

The Southern Highlands region has been growing rapidly in recent years, with a 50-home Traders in Purple project approved in 2024 to cater to local downsizers, and remote workers. 

The proposal said inspiration had been drawn from case studies of adaptive reuse of prisons in Australia and internationally, including Victoria’s Pentridge Prison and Beechworth Gaol.

Pentridge, which now hosts Adina Pentridge Hotel as well as a $1-billion lifestyle and entertainment precinct, was approved in 2024 for an additional two residential towers of 11 and 12 storeys.