McCorkell Constructions

New life for

Fremantle heritagebuildings

Awell-known landmark in Fremantle, the Workers Cottages were built shortly after the first convicts arrived in Western Australia in 1850, making them one of the earliest structures constructed by convict labour in WA.

Originally built as housing for the prison warders and their families, the cottages later became the property of HomesWest in 1991 until 2015 when the Heritage Council of Western Australia assumed possession with the intention of conserving, restoring or reposing the historic buildings.

THE TEAM Photos Dion Robeson

McCorkell Construction were awarded the contract to undertake the renovation of the historic Warders Cottages and construction of the new Emily Taylor Restaurant and Bar.

The six double storey cottages were repurposed into eleven boutique hotel rooms, with a reception and small format Aperitivo Bar. The hotel rooms consist of a generous master bedroom and a luxurious bathroom and kitchenette with all the necessary comforts of a modern hotel.

The garden plots to the rear of the cottages were repurposed with the construction of the Emily Taylor Restaurant and Bar, which includes a sophisticated internal dining space, external garden bar area, Grab n Go take away facilities, liberal bar and commercial kitchen, multiple cool rooms, office space, sophisticated amenities and landscaping.

The structure of the Warders Cottages was managed and modified in accordance with the State Heritage Office’s Heritage Conservation Plan. moisture content trapped within the walls, structural cracking, missing limestone blocks and damaged plaster. The walls were restored by removing the plaster, utilising several poultice applications to draw out the moisture and salts from the walls, undertaking structural repairs and plastering the internal walls with a natural hydraulic lime to restore them to their former condition.

During construction, the upper and lower levels of each cottage were divided by enclosing the internal stairwell and creating a doorway to the rear of each of the upper cottages. Hotel guests access the upper hotel rooms by way of the steel and timber walkway which features custom galvanised wire and glass balustrades. As part of these works, the roof structures of the lower cottages had to be modified to facilitate the new walkway system.

Limestone was salvaged from the new openings formed in the cottages, heritage boundary walls and from excavation works. This was then shaped and integrated, entirely by hand, into a new limestone wall that divides the hotel and restaurant spaces. The construction of the Emily Taylor Restaurant and Bar was also challenging due to the site location and constraints, heritage requirements, unique construction details and an ever-evolving building design.

Hit and miss technique The restaurant structure and landscaping were to be built up to the boundaries on all sides. When excavating adjacent to the existing heritage listed limestone boundary walls, the footings had to be excavated and poured with a hit and miss technique as grout injection was not suitable in the soil conditions.

To conform with the requirements of the State Heritage Office’s Heritage Conservation Plan, an archaeologist was present for all excavation works to ensure any historic materials or goods which were uncovered were catalogued and stored. Some of the findings included an abandoned well, several outhouse slabs, and various animal bones.

The building structure features an amalgamation of contrasting design and materials. It incorporates burnished granolithic concrete floors with timber inlays, exposed steel sawtooth roof structure, painted random bond brickwork, bare precast concrete panel walls, suspended concrete slabs with bamboo impression formwork, natural timber cladding, limestone rubble walls, and external timber decking.

In keeping with the Fremantle character, the external aspect of the restaurant was constructed to appear as an existing warehouse which had been converted to a restaurant and bar and, for the first time in their careers, the bricklayers were requested to intentionally lay the brickwork with irregularities and imperfections.

The general approach to the internal finishes to the cottages was to invite guests to appreciate the history of the building by subtly contrasting new with old, thereby allowing a degree of imperfection to which the eye would be drawn amid the perfect. The overall execution delivered an elegant minimalist appeal.

Acoustic performance improved The joinery within the cottages, from the stone topped kitchenettes and luggage stands to the master beds within inbuilt intercom, light fittings and brass finishes, were custom made by McCorkell Constructions. Similarly, replica timber doors and secondary casement windows were manufactured and installed to improve the acoustic performance of the building, allowing the appreciation of the heritage doors and windows whilst providing a suitable acoustic environment. The existing timber doors and windows were restored and painted, the redundant doors were displayed in the cottage storerooms or stored within the closed stairwells for future use.

FLOOR SANDING, INSTALLATION & RESTORATION PERTH World's No. 1 Eco-Friendly Floor Finishes Our portfolio covers many heritage Perth and Fremantle buildings where the product and finish have to comply with the era; we also source our own materials to match the areas that need replaced leaving a seamless finish. CALL: 0422 631 075

The Warders Hotel reception showcases a natural stone desk and timber floors, ceiling, and walls. Connecting to the reception is the Aperitivo Bar, named Gimlet, with its brass topped bar, stained timber ceiling, custom antique mirror and a back of house food preparation area.

The Emily Taylor Restaurant and Bar provide a contrasting internal dining space, blending the deceptively minimalist structure with hints of Southeast Asian inspired influences. The accurate execution of the structure was paramount, as any imperfections would be on display in the finished product. With exposed precast concrete panels, concrete floors, structural steel roof framing, compressed fibre cement sheeting and suspended concrete slabs, there was little room for error.

Custom concrete floor finishes McCorkell Constructions developed several custom concrete floor finishes to produce the superintendent’s intended result. The final selection was a burnished concrete finish with Markham Masterseal, tinted black, which was applied and partially stripped with Acetone which left the concrete darkened but highlighted the patterns of the burnished concrete.

The burnished concrete floors were broken up with timber inlays which, similar to the clay bricks externally, acted as heritage interpretation for the boundary fences of the Warders Cottages. Timber floors were also installed to the Grab N Go to match the concrete floor inlays, which also included a timber feature wall to match the Aperitivo Bar.

Originally founded by Samuel McCorkell in 1928, McCorkell Constructions has been in continuous operation for over 90 years. The business flourished in the nation building post-war years and was eventually taken over by Samuel’s son, Rex, in 1968.

The late Rex McCorkell was involved with McCorkell Constructions for over 50 years and was well respected in the industry. Rex’s nephew, Howard McCorkell, began working full-time with him from 1997 leading into Rex’s retirement in 2000. The following year Damien Newton-Brown joined Howard in partnership and together they continued to grow the business to its current level.

McCorkell expanded into Western Australia in 2011 where partner and Managing Director, Mark Nyaanga, now leads a fully staffed office, enjoying rapid growth in the government, institutional and heritage sectors.

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL

Ben Ockenden P0447 552 859 E ben@mdkcarpentry.com

STONE BENCHTOPS PERTH Beyond Stone boasts the leading range of stone benchtops Perth has to offer. STONE CLADDING PERTH Make your walls a feature by transforming them with Beyond Stone’s decorative stone cladding. TILING Beyond Stone is WA’s leader in all natural stone products for home and commercial applications.

Phone: 08 9201 0926 Email: monica@beyondstonewa.com.au 21 Ruse Street, Osborne Park WA 6017

NATURAL PERFECTION