From the architect:

The project carefully balances the preservation of the building’s heritage character with new interventions that allow the space to function as a contemporary retail environment.

A new patinaed steel portal frames the entry, conceived as an abstracted steel arch that echoes the building’s original stone archway. Minimal in expression, it signals the presence of the new store while remaining deferential to the heritage context.

The portal also serves to de-emphasise the original Bank of New South Wales signage built into the stone facade, which is heritage-protected and preserved intact behind.

In this way, the new work both announces Country Road’s presence and quietly manages the legibility of the old bank identity. Visitors stepping into the arch can still look upward to read the historic carving, creating a layered threshold that connects past and present.

Inside, the double-height banking chamber has been restored to its original grandeur, with plasterwork, ornate Corinthian columns, and stone detailing carefully repaired.

The original stone panels on the fronts of the banking tellers’ desks, still carrying the Bank of NSW insignia, remain visible, offering a direct connection to the building’s former life.

A new staircase links the ground floor and mezzanine, its fine timber battening referencing the Queenslander vernacular. New display units, points of sale, an integrated timber 'daylighting' ceiling, and a mirrored 'half-arch' introduce warmth and tactility to the restored banking hall.

Together, these restrained interventions sustain the character of the heritage fabric while extending its life through adaptive reuse. The project delivers a quietly elegant retail setting, enriched by its heritage fabric.

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