Returning a cathedral to its original intent.
St Mary's Cathedral is one of Hobart's most treasured buildings, designed by one of Australia's greatest 19th century architects, William Wardell. Over the decades, well-meaning alterations had gradually moved the building away from Wardell's original vision - doors reversed and cut down, windows removed to make way for modern connections, the sanctuary brought forward beyond the chancel arch, and original flooring buried beneath layers of paint, linoleum and terrazzo.
Our restoration carefully undid that drift. The approach was guided by a simple principle: where the original design was sound, return to it. Where modern needs required something new, make it lightweight, freestanding and reversible - so that nothing we introduced competes with the existing fabric of the church.
Light touch. Lasting care.
The west doors were restored to their original outward-opening arrangement, with freestanding glazed screens set behind them to manage noise and weather. This allowed the removal of heavy contemporary timber-framed doors that had interrupted the view through to the sanctuary, giving the nave back its full visual length. At the baptistry, the original window - long held in storage - was reinstated, and the font returned to its intended setting as a protected space within the Cathedral.
A new link connection on the south facade provides accessible passage to the cloister, placed where Wardell originally designed a door. Its glazed wall matches the existing cloister language, keeping the Cathedral's south wall and buttresses visible rather than concealing them behind new construction.
What was always there.
Throughout the Cathedral, original timber flooring was uncovered and restored, the sanctuary returned to its original position behind the chancel arch, and outdated heating and lighting systems replaced with efficient, discreet alternatives. A new accessible entry at the north transept folds up from the existing pavement, maintaining the integrity of the heritage steps beneath.
In nearly every case, we returned the building to the arrangement Wardell intended. The insertions we made are deliberate and restrained - designed to protect what matters most, and to be removed without trace if required in the future.
