Tremayne Building, Kirribilli

From the outside, the Tremayne Building still stands as it always has – its original external walls intact, quietly anchoring a heritage streetscape in Kirribilli. But step inside and everything has changed.

Prime Projects delivered an adaptive reuse project for Loreto Kirribilli, transforming a former five-storey backpacker hostel into a contemporary education and visual arts facility – now known as the Marian Centre. Designed by Gardner Wetherill Architects and completed in 2011, the project stripped the building entirely to its external shell before constructing four new floors within the preserved envelope – classrooms, visual arts studios and specialised photographic dark rooms emerging where budget accommodation once stood.

Behind the main building, a separate three-storey hostel was simultaneously repurposed into staff offices and additional art rooms, further expanding the school’s teaching capacity.

Beneath it all, archaeological investigations revealed sandstone and brick footings from the 1860s – remnants of the original Tremayne estate, carefully managed throughout construction.

Eleven state-of-the-art teaching spaces. One heritage envelope. A transformation delivered with sensitivity, skill and the precision that complex refurbishment demands. Prime Projects — turning what was into what’s needed next.