About the project
Barambah Station is a landmark working cattle property of great heritage significance. It is located south of Goomeri in the heart of the South Burnett Region in South-East Queensland.
The property consists of a homestead built in 1906, designed by Bundaberg Architect Faircloth and a series of farm outbuildings dating from the 1860's and 1880's. These outbuildings included a hayshed, coach house, bull pen/feed shed, dairy and garage/workshop.
In 1967 the homestead was extensively altered including removal of much of the original planning, walls, ceilings and joinery. The original farm outbuildings were not maintained or used and subsequently fell into disrepair and were abandoned in favour of new metal shed structures. The original garden and fences also fell into decay.
The current owners acquired the property in 2000 and commissioned a conservation management plan to understand the place and its significance. This plan provided policies to guide the conservation and adaptive reuse of the buildings.
A master plan was undertaken for the whole property seeking to:
- return the homestead to its as built state in terms of recovering the planning and major spaces but with modern finishes
- to extend the homestead to provide new elements needed for modern living
- to repair the outbuildings which had decayed to the point of structural collapse
- to reuse original fabric where possible to retain the qualities of the place
- to find new and viable uses for the outbuildings, which had been made obsolete
- undertake a garden master plan which relates to the homestead planning including creating an arrival experience and garden axis relating to the internal cruciform house planning
Homestead works included:
- Reinstating an arrival experience (formal and informal)
- Returning the house to the 1906 internal planning with the cruciform hall
- Reinstating original volumes and ceilings heights
- Providing new elements including a kitchen, dining room, boots/coats area and cold room
Outbuilding works included:
- Replanning the outbuildings as part of the master plan to form a working courtyard with the coach house at the heart
- Relocation of new metal sheds away from the 1860s and 1880s outbuildings
- Conservation and repair of the 18060s hay storage shed including new footings, structural stiffening and strengthening of roof and wall framing, reroofing using recycled iron, new rainwater goods, new doors and cladding and repainting
- Conservation, repair and adaptive reuse of the coach house as a workshop, manager’s residence, parking/storage and chemical store
- Conservation, repair and adaptive reuse of the bull pens/feed shed as a tack room, horse pens, storage shed and muster accommodation
- Repair and conservation of the dairy
Garden works include:
- New house garden with entry gatehouse and arbour creating an arrival experience (both formal and informal)
- Garden plan relating to the main house axis and site lines
- New fences and gates
