‘Rare and Reposeful’ Redfern Cathedral Greenlit

More than 18 months after filing plans with the City of Sydney Council, a five-stage $27.5-million redevelopment of the Redfern Cathedral has been approved. 

Australia’s Greek Orthodox Church lodged the plans for an Angelo Candalepas-designed restoration of the 173-year-old cathedral at 242 Cleveland Street, which would be undertaken over the next two decades. 

In a statement read at the Planning Panel meeting, Angelo Candalepas said it was a project that was “from the heart” that he hoped would create something “rare and reposeful” for the community. 

Candalepas said he was keen to see the application approved to end the significant negotiations and consultation with heritage officers, the council and transport NSW. He said the building was “generous to the public” and was an architectural offering that would enhance the site’s important status in the community. 

“I’ve put everything I could imagine into this work, drawing from my memory and the memories my parents had to offer,” Candalepas said. 

“It’s a work that I hope will be a seminal work for my office.

“It will be something rare and reposeful to our future … [with a] juxtaposition between new and old.”

▲ The proposal includes the creation of a library and museum, with religious and cultural exhibits that reflect upon Greek Australian heritage and the history of immigration.

The existing function hall and parish hall will be demolished to make way for the construction of two new buildings with a shared basement for public worship, shared function spaces, a museum and a theological college. 

The development application was referred to the City of Sydney Planning Panel because it exceeded height limits. It was unanimously approved. 

“These buildings will bring to the Greek Church an important new home and important new offerings which include the refurbishment of the Blacket church (built from 1848), in a manner which develops and enables the setting to be characterised by landscape and sensitive curtilage.

“It also provides an important great hall building which will increase the capacity of the site to receive important international guests as well as hold important public events.”

Angelo Candalepas of Candalepas Associates has won recognition for his work on religious institutions, including St Mary’s Cathedral in the city and the Punchbowl Mosque. Candalepas also won the design competition for the NGV Contemporary in Melbourne. 

The first stage will be finished by March 2024, in time to celebrate the church’s centenary in Australia.