Project in Focus: SWOP
SWOP Collingwood
Recycled designer fashion is now extremely popular. However, more than 10 years ago, the founder of SWOP, Brigit Gordon, was already well into it. Her recently completed store at 8 Peel Street, Collingwood, was both the perfect location and also attracting the right demographics (with many new high-rise apartments accommodating young professionals and empty nesters). It was also the right building for the developer, who has a love of 1920s and ‘30s interwar buildings, many of which are constructed in concrete.
Recently gutted and reworked by Mills Gorman Architects, together with an adjacent three-level building, the project initially involved bringing the heritage-listed building up to present building codes – such as providing services and accessibility for all, including people with a disability, along with meeting current fire standards. Although such an upgrade would seem relatively straightforward, it required extensive liaison and approval from both heritage consultants and the local council. This included permission to link the two buildings together, create a roof terrace and add a mezzanine-style top level that would not be visible from the street.
Fortunately for the architects, the brief from both the developer and Brigit Gordon was to do as little possible to celebrate the building’s rich patina, with many of the internal brick walls left unpainted. The concrete floors were also simply polished and, in some instances, new steel and glass warehouse-style windows, complementing the original ones, were added. The ground level, straddling both buildings, is now home to SWOP. Approximately 500 square metres in area, this fairly ‘raw’ and industrial space now includes steel joinery along with mirror-fronted changing rooms which create a clear separation between the past and the present – a space where people can browse through the steel racks or simply relax on one of the many 1970s lounge suites in a breakout area. Mills Gorman worked closely with stylist Joseph Gardner and also with bespoke joiner Torren Clifford to create the right ambience. While not obvious to people looking through the vintage clothes, there’s also back-of-house offices. The architects also reworked the upper levels, with one being used as an office and the other by the high-end retailer, Mane Character.
Doing less rather than more can prove to be more challenging than overworking an interior with superfluous detail. In this case of this project, it was finding the right balance of exposure, such as services and importantly, allowing the spaces to be as fluid as possible. For Mills Gorman Architects, 8 Peel Street was also a case of working with well-informed clients who had a clear vision of what they were looking for and who sought assistance from the practice as to how to achieve this to the maximum.
