FEATURE
Work under way on the Cocoroc building preservation.
Preserving and building on history Andrew Jefferson Editor
F
or more than 80 years, Cocoroc was a thriving operational and community hub to a resident workforce of 500 strong. The farm hall and amenities block were key places of gathering — the heartbeat of the township where workers and their families socialised, and visitors were welcomed.
8 | Master Builders Victoria
It’s one of a handful of buildings surviving from the early days of operation of the Western Treatment Plant, originally named the Metropolitan Sewerage Farm, located near Werribee in Melbourne’s west. The original farm hall was in essence one large room. The brief from Melbourne Water centred on restoring and adapting the old building for new use as an education and visitor centre. It also needed capacity for it to be partitioned into small rooms, while still retaining the look and feel of the old building. Aqua Metro Services were given the job as project managers while Melbourne Developers were the project builders. Building manager Ash Sharma, from Melbourne Developers, said the scope of the works for the two buildings comprised complete demolition of the existing amenities block and building new amenities blocks identical to the existing ones — plus partial
demolition of the old farm hall. “The intent was to retain the existing stumps, timber flooring, timber frame and scissor trusses,” Mr Sharma said. “In November 2019 it was agreed that a staged demolition be carried out on the farm hall, so its structural integrity was preserved. “This ensured the setting of the historic precinct — and it being one of only a handful of buildings surviving from the workers township — was given a new lease of life for future generations to appreciate.” As with any delicate heritage restoration, Mr Sharma said there were several technical challenges to overcome. “Detailed structural assessment revealed several challenges given the age of the hall and it was decided re-stumping works would be addressed first,” he said. “This was again tricky – and all done from below the sub floor while we had to retain the existing hardwood
Volume 76 Issue 03
