Toga Files Adaptive Reuse for Surry Hills Gothic Church

Sydney developer Toga Group has lodged plans to repurpose a Surry Hills church as a mixed-use project. 

Toga has applied to the City of Sydney to redevelop the deconsecrated Gothic-style church building, The Kirk, at 422-424 Cleveland Street. 

Under plans by EM BE CE Architects, rear additions would be demolished and a five-storey rear infill building, that would connect to the church via a new basement level, would be built.

The mixed-use development would encompass commercial office and end-of-journey floor space in the new building as well as a licensed restaurant extending across both buildings. 

There would also be a mid-building connection in the new building with the upper mezzanine level of The Kirk building, and open pitched portals as an architectural roof feature. 

A key issue for the project, Toga said, was ensuring an effective transition between the streetscape and heritage of The Kirk building, and the redevelopment of the vacant backyard area.

The Kirk, a Victorian Gothic church, was built in 1879 and used as a place of worship until 1970. 

The building was then leased as an exhibition space, community centre and concert venue but has been unoccupied since 2010.

Most infamously, Gretel Pinniger, aka Madame Lash, owned it and The Kirk was once a symbol of Sydney’s wildest nightlife.

And Aussie rock legends AC/DC shot the film clip for their song Let There Be Rock in the church in 1977.

While it is at the southern edge of the High Holborn Street Heritage Conservation Area, the building itself is not listed as a local or state heritage item. 

Toga acquired the site in November last year, paying a reported $6 million.

Toga are also planning a wider project for Surry Hills, with residences, restaurants, boutiques and workspaces part of its Surry Hills Village redevelopment. 

It said that the site “presents a great opportunity for the adaptive reuse of The Kirk building and redevelopment of the vacant rear yard area”. 

Toga said it was aware of the council’s plans for the area “which essentially seek to retain a highly important transport corridor and commercial hub, providing a more built-up and diverse form of commercial, retail and entertainment uses and service”. 

It called one of its own projects, the $200-million redevelopment of the Surry Hills Village Shopping Centre near The Kirk site, “an important and emerging influence on this locality”.

That mixed-use commercial and retail development has been approved and is under construction. It includes buildings up to seven storeys.