Adaptive Reuse Plans Filed for Heritage Malt House in SA

Plans have been filed for a former brewery’s malt house that would deliver an eight-storey apartment and office block at North Adelaide.

The mixed-use building would have a ground-floor office tenancy within the state-heritage-listed malt house of the Old Lion Brewery, with 35 luxury apartments atop. 

The proposal for the site at183 Melbourne Street also includes a rooftop pool and spa with a gym at ground level, surrounded by a Zen garden. 

The 1708sq m parcel of land currently has a two-storey office building that would be demolished as part of the plans.

The former Old Lion Brewery has been heritage listed since the 1980s and is connected to what is now the Old Lion Hotel.

Its malt house is in the site’s south-eastern corner and is currently used as an office. It would retain that purpose under the plans.

▲ The luxury penthouse would have two studies, a two living rooms, a wine room and an outdoor kitchen, plus exclusive use of a rooftop pool.

Tectvs Architecture has designed the new section of the project with the heritage building in mind, saying that its form, materials and brewing techniques had provided the driver for the designs. 

The office would offer 195sq m of leasable floor area, while would will be a mix of three and four-bedroom apartments levels one to seven. 

With electric heat pumps, high-performance thermal insulation and the provision of 30 bicycle spaces, the proposal “strives to achieve substantial gain in sustainability”. 

Adelaide project director Daniel De Conno alongside Andrew Nunn are listed as directors of the applicant company 183 Melbourne Street Pty Ltd. 

▲ The Lion Brewery and Malthouse was built in the early 1870s. Brewing ceased in 1914. Photo: Adelaide Economic Development Agency

The development application, which is on notification, fits into the City of Adelaide’s recently-released Draft City Plan 2036.

The plans identifies that  “successful cities around the world have a strong residential populations living locally”.

Projections indicate that South Australia will need 300,000 new homes by 2051 to keep up with its population growth.

The city said it was “committed to doubling its residential population from 26,000 residents to a population of 50,000 residents by 2036.”