The ongoing revitalisation of Paddington’s Oxford Street continues with the addition of a multi-use residency designed by architecture firm Scott Carver. The Verona Arthouse cinema, a beloved landmark, is slated for redevelopment to accommodate a variety of amenities, including retail spaces, dining venues and boutique commercial offices. Previously owned by Robert Bleakley, founder of Sotheby’s Australia Fine Art, the site housed the Palace Cinema since 1996. In 2021, private development companies WT Malouf and Fenbury acquired the property with plans to transform it into a large-scale commercial space.

The redevelopment addresses the growing need for high-quality office accommodations in the city’s periphery, with plans to transform the iconic Verona into an eight-level mixed-use building. The building will feature 3,500 square metres of office and retail areas, along with 1000 square metres dedicated to cultural entertainment.

Modern commercial office spaces will be introduced, with open floor plans spanning 523 to 822 square metres, complemented by expansive outdoor terraces. Verona will include two subterranean levels designed for cinemas and cultural retail on the ground floor. Below ground, four levels will house commercial office spaces, activated with quality food and beverage offerings and boasting views of Sydney’s harbour and CBD.

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The redevelopment will honour the history of the site while reimagining it as a vibrant, mixed-use cultural hub. The site’s original name, ‘Verona’, serves as a reference to its industrial origins dating back to its establishment in 1946. The building will retain the idiosyncrasies and nuances of the site, such as the industrial brick facade while overlaying contemporary features. Notably, a ‘crystal mesh’ feature will envelop the workplace floors, allowing natural light to suffuse throughout the spaces. The contrast between the modern lightweight design and the robust industrial brickwork embodies the project’s integration of historical elements with contemporary aesthetics.

“This project is an amazing opportunity to reinvent and redefine the next generation of cultural experiences on Oxford Street. It anchors the eastern end of the City of Sydney’s Oxford Street renewal and will help people rediscover one of Sydney’s most creative and culturally significant areas,” says Doug Southwell, Project Architect and Co-Managing Director of Scott Carver.

Scott Carver
scottcarver.com.au

Next up: Adaptive reuse with BVN at UQ City Campus