Maitland City Council Building

Set within High Street’s urban streetscape, the Maitland City Council Building anchored a broader masterplan dedicated to restoring vitality to the town’s historic core. The project pairs a new 5,000-square-metre civic workplace with the monumental 1890 Town Hall and 1930s municipal buildings, weaving collective memory with contemporary operational standards.

Developed in close collaboration with the client and with end users in mind, the project is guided by three core principles: creating positive, welcoming environments; instilling a personal sense of belonging for both workplace users and the community; and delivering a practical, ergonomic, and future-proof workplace.
Public accessibility, intuitive circulation, and flexible spaces for work and collaboration form the backbone of this new civic hub.

Externally, the material palette establishes a tangible visual link with the surrounding heritage. The exposed brick façade—partially realised in Smoked Brick—gives the building a solid, measured presence. In line with the sustainability principles that guided the project, the bricks also serve as a masonry screen: the envelope modulates the building’s massing, shields extensive glazed apertures from direct sunlight, and leverages the natural thermal mass of terracotta to keep interiors cool through the summer while retaining warmth in winter.

Inside, the material continuity of the exterior extends across fluid spaces governed by biophilic design principles, diffuse natural light, and organic finishes selected to support occupant wellbeing. A double-height lobby washed in overhead light acts as a public hinge between past and present, connecting the open-plan work environments with the heritage-listed Council Chambers and community event venues.