Fini Group has been given the green light to restore Shenton Park’s Victoria House, with the heritage-listed former hospital to become a retail and hospitality precinct which will be integrated with 81 new dwellings.
Fini Group has been given the green light to restore Shenton Park’s Victoria House, with the heritage-listed former hospital to become a retail and hospitality precinct which will be integrated with 81 new dwellings.
Victoria House is part of DevelopmentWA’s Montario Quarter, a residential and retail precinct expected to deliver more than 1,100 dwellings on the former grounds of the Shenton Park Rehabilitation Hospital.
The development will be the sixth major heritage redevelopment by Fini Group, which has delivered The State Buildings, COMO The Treasury, Alex Hotel, Knutsford and The Rechabite in recent years.
Fini Group is working with architects MJA Studio, Finespun and Palassis Architects to deliver Victoria House, while it also engaged landscape architects Place Laboratory to provide design work for the project’s public open space.
Development manager Jo Bennett said the project team had embraced the site’s unique history as a former hospital building and existing built form to shape the project.
“Creating an interplay between old and new, the project is sensitive to its surroundings and builds a sense of place that is anything but generic,” Ms Bennett said.
“We want to raise the bar and deliver carefully crafted apartments that make lasting homes - each element of our design has been meticulously considered by our team.”
MJA Studio design director Jimmy Thompson said the project team also sought to reinforce the tight-knit nature of the Shenton Park community through the Victoria House redevelopment.
“Our spaces have been consciously designed with people in mind,” Mr Thompson said.
“Everything you can do in a detached house you can do here; be part of a genuine community, plant a veggie garden, wash your dog, tinker in the shed, grab a coffee at the local or retreat to the sanctuary of your home.”
The approval, which was issued by the Department of Planning Lands and Heritage, comes after a comprehensive community engagement campaign, with community residents asked what they would like to see from a redevelopment.
More than 150 respondents indicated local amenities, sustainable design and green open spaces were at the top of their wishlists, Ms Bennett said.
“Something that came through the survey is people’s desire to live in a home that is climate responsive,” Ms Bennett said.
“With this in mind, we are working towards achieving an equivalent 5 Star Green Star Rating for the development through a range of features that maximise energy efficiency.”
Construction is expected to commence midway through next year and be completed by early 2022.
Fini Group’s project is the second development to be approved at Montario Quarter, with a $140 million mixed use building by Primewest and Iris Residential getting the tick in February.
Primewest and Iris are working together to deliver 150 apartments and 14 specialty tenancies, including cafes and restaurants as well as a supermarket, in collaboration with Cameron Chisholm Nicol architects.
DevelopmentWA closed an expressions of interest campaign for another parcel of land at Montario Quarter earlier this month, with developers invited to provide proposals for a 6,817 square metre site which formerly housed the hospital’s paraplegic unit.
