Respect the Building. Why the past belongs in the present.
There’s a temptation in design to overwrite what came before…to paint over the patina, to cover the cracks, to replace what doesn’t fit the new brief. But buildings carry memory. They carry the weight of the lives, work, and rituals that once filled them. And when we respect that, we create something richer than newness alone.
Take Il Falco in Perth. Once a mechanic’s workshop, its bones still hum with that history. The steel beams, the imperfect textures, the way light bends across old brickwork, they remain visible, not erased. The new layers, architectural refinement, hospitality detail, and curated design…sit alongside, not on top. It’s this balance of old and new, past and present, that defines the space. A nod to memory that gives the future more depth.
Across the world, the best spaces do the same. The Tate Modern in London, once a power station, transformed into a cathedral of contemporary art while keeping its monumental turbine hall intact. Even locally Fremantle’s Hougoumont Hotel, built on a site that has a long and varied past, previously housing the Duke of York Hotel, Club Giovanni Italia, and the Fremantle Club, but celebrated today, creating a hotel with atmosphere impossible to fake.
Working with a building rather than against it isn’t nostalgia. It’s recognition that character comes from contrast. That design is not about pretending the past didn’t happen, but about layering meaning on top of it.
Because when you listen to the building, it tells a story no amount of polish ever could.
These projects respect the bones of the building, allowing history to guide the design rather than be painted over. In doing so, they reveal a layered kind of beauty—where the past and present sit comfortably side by side.
Bread in Common, Fremantle was a former pharmaceutical warehouse was originally built in 1898. Baker, Gotthard Bauer. Today it is a bakery and restaurant that buzzes with energy and actively engages its urban frontage
Surry Hills, Paramount House Hotel occupies a 1930s brick warehouse and 1940s office building, formerly the headquarters of Paramount Pictures Studio. Now its a hotel designed by Breathe Architecture.
The Hudson New York was constructed in 1928 by Anne Morgan, daughter of J. P. Morgan, as the American Women's Association clubhouse. Now it is a hotel designed by Ennead and interior designer Philippe Starck.
