The Department Of Education Building, Sydney

The Department of Education Building located in Sydney’s CDB, was designed by the acclaimed architect George McRae, the esteemed architect was also responsible for the design of Sydney’s famous Queen Victoria Building on George Street.

Constructed in 1914, the building is characterised by Edwardian Baroque design elements which are rarely found in Australian architecture. Almost a century after the building’s construction, Remedial Building Services were engaged to perform restoration works to this beautiful building for the purposes of ensuring that water damage and ingress could be prevented into the future.
All told, the work we were brought on to address included:

The Rectification Process

Rectification on this extensive project began on the rooftop of the building, where qualified asbestos removal staff began the process of isolating the area to be worked on, encapsulating it and then removing the faulty membrane containing bonded asbestos.
During this stage of the rectification, Remedial worked with building management to implement extensive measures to protect employees and the general public from any exposure to asbestos particles. Once all asbestos affected materials had been safely disposed of, the Remedial team installed a new torch-on membrane to the roof and parapet in order to prevent the ingress of water into the building.

After the roof was completed, specialist staff with extensive heritage rectification experience repaired and replaced all copper flashings and window beading.

This rectification project was completed over a 16 month period to the satisfaction of the building management, with minimal if any impact on the occupants of the building. The high quality work provided by Remedial enhanced the waterproofing and structural integrity of the building while maintaining all the requirements of a heritage listed building.
These works will allow the building to remain structurally sound and visually spectacular for many years to come.