137 Market Street

Many buildings are indiscriminately and prematurely demolished for redevelopment without critical assessing whether total demolition is necessary. The 137 Market Street Project demonstrates how an office building; built in the 70s in pre-stressed structure; deemed obsolete by the developer is remodelled to a modern office in a sustainable way.

Conventional thinking would rule out major remodelling as the foundation is not able to support substantial additional load and major alteration to the pre-stressed floor plate to offer an alternative design solution.

The shift in attitude towards appreciating existing built environment as resource – in place of indiscriminate demolition and rebuilding – is timely and should continue to be encouraged, as it makes for a sustainable future built environment.