Ten years after the Corkman Irish Pub was illegally torn down, a new structure now stands on Melbourne’s Leicester Street, built as a multimillion-dollar concrete replica of the 1858 landmark.
The saga began in October 2016, when developers Raman Shaqiri and Stefce Kutlesovski demolished the heritage-listed building without permits, triggering national outrage and a drawn-out court battle. Operating through 160 Leicester Pty Ltd, they had purchased the site for AUD 4.7 million in 2014. After a minor fire, the building came down in a rapid weekend demolition that bypassed Melbourne City Council’s approval process.
In the years that followed, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal pursued penalties designed to remove any financial upside from the unlawful work. In December 2020, Justice Michelle Quigley found the directors guilty of deliberate and willful contempt of court. The site, about 457 square meters, was initially ordered cleared for a temporary community park before the developers submitted plans to rebuild.
Those plans, submitted in 2022, led to a finished project designed by architecture firm Six Degrees. The new complex includes three above-ground storeys and three basement levels, with additions like bicycle storage and commercial kitchens. From the street, the material and color choices aim to match the look of the original masonry and restore the historic streetscape, even though the original 19th-century materials are gone.
For mason contractors and restoration teams, the Corkman case underlines a hard truth about heritage work. Once historic brick and mortar are hauled away, the craft shifts from preservation to imitation. It also highlights the real cost of getting permits, heritage approvals, and compliance wrong, especially when courts order reconstruction instead of accepting a fine as the last word.
The story also landed beyond Australia, with the article pointing to similar pressure points in fast-growing East African cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa, where authorities face unauthorized changes to older architecture. In Victoria, the state later tightened the Building Act with measures aimed at stopping demolition by neglect.
Read the full, original article from streamlinefeed.co.ke here.