Windsor Hotel & Parliamentary Precinct

Why is it significant?

The Windsor Hotel is of historic and architectural significance to the State of Victoria.  and is considered to be one of the largest and grandest of Australia’s 19th century hotels. Representative of the many prominent buildings constructed in Melbourne during the boom period in the 1880s, it is a significantly intact example of architect Charles Webb’s work  The Windsor is also historically significant for its associations with many prominent figures and famous people, including Sir Robert Menzies, who stayed in the hotel. In 1974, the then owners Windsor Holdings Ltd proposed to replace it with a 38 storey office block - at the same time the building was classified by the National Trust.

 The Hamer Liberal State Government, in response to public alarm at the possible destruction of the Windsor, took the highly unusual step of purchasing the building in 1977. In 1980 it was leased to the Oberoi Group, who undertook a major restoration of the hotel in 1983. The remaining Victorian elements were restored, including 19th century colour schemes to the lobby, staircase, and especially the Grand Dining Room, where the huge brass chandeliers were reproduced from photographs, and the glass domes re-instated. This restoration won a Victorian Architect's Institute award. The Spring Street Lounge, other public spaces and even the rooms were refurbished and decorated in a sumptuous traditional style establishing the Windsor as a leading luxury hotel and a major Melbourne landmark.

The Parliamentary precinct which includes the Windsor Hotel is recognised as being architecturally as well as historically significant and is identified in the Melbourne Planning Scheme as the Bourke Hill Precinct.  This precinct is considered important for its association with Parliament House, prominent historic buildings, sympathetic low-scale surrounding buildings and important vistas.  The Bourke Hill precinct is protected by a Heritage Overlay.

Why is it at Risk?

Both the Minister of Planning and Heritage Victoria have recently approved a proposal to demolish the rear section of the Windsor Hotel building to be replaced with a 26 storey 91 metre high tower.  A replacement building is also proposed on the corner of Springand Bourke Streets.  This development will significantly impact on the architectural integrity and historic significance of the building, and on the broader parliamentary precinct known as Bourke Hill. 

The Minister for Planning was the Responsible Authority for this decision and as the development exceeded 25,000sqm, the City of Melbourne was only permitted to submit comments.  Large scale, high density commercial and residential development is being encouraged in Melbourne by the State Government as the city’s population grows and pressure mounts for government to fast track decisions and support development opportunities to meet demand.  It is under these circumstances that our heritage buildings will be most at risk of being substantially altered or at worst, demolished.  Furthermore, it is considered that the height controls embedded in the Melbourne Planning Scheme are too flexible suggesting that the height limits are only a guideline with the potential to be exceeded if the design outcomes of the Design and Development Overlay affecting the Capital City zone are met.

Heritage Victoria explained in the media announcement of its decision to approve the proposal that it allowed substantial alterations and additions to the heritage building on mainly economic grounds.  As part of the decision making process, the Heritage Act allows Heritage Victoria to consider the impact on the reasonable or economic use of the place were an application to be refused. The decision to grant a permit based on economic arguments supporting the development places the cultural significance of the State listed building under threat and relegates the assessment of the heritage impacts of the proposal.

The decision to allow the 26 storey development at the rear of the Windsor Hotel will establish a precedent and send a message to property developers that the height limits in the central city area, especially in the Parliamentary precinct, are discretionary and can be breached.(this only applies to HV listings)

The low-scale character of the precinct and the dominance of the Parliament buildings will be under threat as pressure mounts to allow other developments within the precinct to exceed the discretionary height limits.  The City of Melbourne planning controls are not strong enough to encourage more sympathetic development by limiting the height of buildings in heritage precincts.  Mandatory height restrictions which existed until 1992 assisted in controlling the heights and enhancing the low-scale character. However, they were later removed from the planning scheme and replaced with more designed-focused discretionary height controls. Under section 73 of the Heritage Act, the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria may consider the extent to which the application will have an affect on the surrounding heritage precinct.  It is considered that the impacts of the proposed tower at the rear of Windsor Hotel on the Parliamentary precinct were not adequately addressed by Heritage Victoria and the economic justification to allow the tower was clearly given more weight when considering the proposal.

What needs to be done?

Heritage Victoria has issued a planning permit for the construction of a 26 storey 91 metre high tower, demolition of a substantial rear section of the building and the 1961 corner building, and construction of new corner building.   There are no avenues under the Heritage Act for third parties such as the National Trust to appeal the decision by Heritage Victoria. 

Whilst the National Trust cannot appeal Heritage Victoria’s decision, it did lodge an application under the Planning and Environment Act for review of the Minister’s decision that it will have a detrimental impact on the Bourke Hill (parliamentary)  precinct. The developer then successfully lodged a request to have the National Trusts appeal struck out on the grounds that VCAT has no jurisdiction.  It is argued that no permit was required for the development under the Heritage Overlay (Bourke Hill precinct) because the Windsor Hotel is included on the Victorian Heritage Register.  The strike out effectively confirmed that there are no third party appeal rights.  The remaining triggers for requiring a permit were already exempt from notice and review. The only remaining avenue is a judicial review at the Supreme Court. Given these circumstances, it is unlikely that the decision to significant alter, demolish and redevelop the Windsor Hotel will be able to be contested.

Height controls within the city centre of Melbourne are embedded in the Melbourne Planning Scheme but need to be strengthened.  A planning scheme amendment should be prepared, reintroducing the mandatory height limits in the city centre to protect the low-scale characteristics of the many parts of the city.  The low-scale nature of the surrounding built form in this precinct enhances the streetscapes whilst maintaining an appropriate context for prominent buildings such as the Parliament building, Windsor Hotel and Princess Theatre.   Significant views are also maintained.   The strengthening of the planning scheme controls to restrict height in the certain significant parts of the CBD will avoid the misinterpretation of the design outcomes set out in the scheme to control height which is open to exploitation by developers.  Furthermore, the perceived flexibility in the height controls for buildings in the city centre will be replaced by certainty about what is inappropriate and will not be supported.