Mt Maria College and St Mary's College successful at the 2013 Queensland Heritage Awards

Fulton Trotter Architects with Ivan McDonald Architects were delighted to further make their mark in the Heritage arena by winning two awards at the National Trust Queensland Heritage Awards.

Mt Maria College Rose Pelletier Building won a Silver award in the Governor’s Heritage Awards category. This award recognises achievement in local heritage projects through the understanding of heritage values of a place within a community. Evidence of good planning and selection of options that support sustainability and preservation of heritage values were assessed. Mt Maria was commended for opening up the building both in terms of accessibility and removal of layers of renovations and enhancing the sustainability of the construction.

St Mary’s College Convent in Ipswich won a High Commendation in the Queensland Heritage Council Awards category which recognises achievements in the conservation of places in the Queensland Heritage Register. This award category, for buildings that are State Heritage listed, assesses the best practice approach to conservation planning and works in accordance with Burra Charter Principles, long-term conservation outcomes, high level technical skill in planning, building or other conservation activities and innovative approach to overcoming logistic, technical and other problems. In this hotly contested category, where Brisbane City Hall was the winner, St Mary’s was commended for the conservation, restoration and adaptation of the former convent to house the school’s administrative functions. The removal of decades of insensitive interventions and “the skilful insertion of a new lift and stairs provided equitable access and addressed fire safety requirements.”