Brutalist Beauty: Sydney’s “Fabulously Ugly” Reader’s Digest Building Gets a New lease on Life
Surry Hills, Australia – A landmark of Brutalist architecture in Sydney, the former Reader’s Digest building, is set for a $23 million transformation. The building, notorious for its “indecent” sculptures and unconventional design, will be reimagined as a creative hub for the Surry Hills community.Unveiled in 1967, the Reader’s Digest building was a bold statement - a intentional fusion of Gothic architecture and Brutalism, intended to be “art as architecture.” while divisive, the building has garnered a dedicated following, with some describing it as “the most fabulously ugly thing you’ve ever seen.”
“I call it Beaut-alism,” says Adam Haddow, director of SJB, the firm leading the adaptive reuse project alongside Design 5 – Architects. “John James [the architect] married an obsession with Gothic architecture with Brutalism in a way that’s truly unique.”
The enterprising project will breathe new life into the 4,200-square-meter heritage-listed building on Waterloo street. haddow envisions the revitalized space as a vibrant center for creative activity, even suggesting it could become the emotional “Town Hall” for Surry Hills, a neighborhood currently lacking a central community space.
Originally designed to house a state-of-the-art $1 million computer (the size of a small home!) and ground-floor printing presses, the building prioritized employee wellbeing. Matthew Byrnes of Design 5 – Architects explains that James believed office spaces shoudl feel like a home – “a place where you wanted to spend your day,rather than a glass box with little sense of the human scale.”
Construction is slated to begin later this year,promising to preserve the building’s distinctive character while adapting it for a new generation of users. The project signals a growing appreciation for Brutalist architecture and its potential for innovative reuse.
Keywords: Sydney, Architecture, Brutalism, Adaptive Reuse, Surry Hills, Reader’s Digest Building, John James, SJB, Design 5 – Architects, Heritage, Creative Hub, urban Advancement.
