Hocking Heritage to lead Ascot Kilns restoration

Shenton Park architectural firm Hocking Heritage + Architecture has been appointed to lead the state government’s $6 million Ascot Kilns Conservation project, a proposal tipped to revive the historic industrial site.

The project, being spearheaded by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, will involve the assessment, planning and design of conservation works for the deteriorating kilns and chimney stacks in a bid to stablilise and preserve the ageing infrastructure.

The works are expected to begin in 2022 and take up to three years to complete.

The Grandstand Road site, first constructed in the 1920s, is home to Australia’s largest collection of ‘beehive’ kilns and the former Bristile tile factory; which played a pivotal role in the city’s mid-century suburban boom.

But the Ascot Kilns site was not added to the State Register of Heritage Places until last year, just months before the state government vowed to spend $6 million restoring the site as part of the state’s $5.5 billion COVID Recovery Plan.

According to the Heritage Council of WA, initial assessments undertaken at the site indicate that the surviving kilns are in a poor condition, having suffered from efflorescence, and the arched openings and fire boxes now showing signs of imminent collapse. 

The site has also been subject to unauthorised access and vandalism since it ceased operations in 1982.

The restoration works are part of a much broader plan by the department which to integrate the heritage site with future development, including the creation of two development sites capable of yielding 200-250 residential apartments within buildings of two to eight storeys.

The department is also considering options for the future of the ‘Brick Man’ statue.

Heritage Minister David Templeman said the appointment was an important milestone in the journey to revive a site which offered a unique insight into 20th century industrial manufacturing.

Planning Minister Rita Saffioti said the project would generate considerable local employment and contracting opportunities and reinvigorate the entire precinct.