Is demolition of a significant proportion of the hotel and construction of a new tower the only way to give the Windsor a viable future? Historic hotels around the world have adapted to the 21st century without the need for extensive demolition and addition of large towers.

The Bourke Hill precinct is a carefully conserved low-scale historic pecinct. The new tower would undermine 27 years of successful city planning.

The Windsor, well known as the ‘Duchess of Spring Street’, is a treasured landmark and justly recognised as Melbourne’s preeminent historic hotel. The National Trust acknowledges that it is in need of a major upgrade.

An investment in the historic and architecturally significant Windsor hotel is welcome to ensure a viable future for it as a luxury hotel.  The National Trust recognises that luxury hotels must be periodically refurbished and that such an upgrade is overdue at the Windsor. Spending $32 million on the heritage sections of the hotel is a significant investment.

However, this proposal involves the demolition of most of the rear and one side wing of the original hotel. Such a level of demolition could only be justified on the basis of an acceptable replacement. A 27 storey tower is not acceptable.

We appreciate that the architects have developed an architectural solution that is as visually light as possible. The innovative wavy all-glass wall moderated with white ‘fritting’ creates something more akin to sculpture than a standard high rise building. However, as a pair, the proposed tower and corner building would dominate what would be left of the historic Windsor hotel.

The Trust has always strongly supported the planning controls that ensure that the Bourke Street Hill precinct retains its heritage character and low scale. The height of the new tower does not meet the local policy objectives and scheme requirements of the Melbourne Planning Scheme.

The Design and Development Overlay in the Melbourne Planning Scheme recommends that all buildings and works in the Bourke Hill Precinct should be no higher than 23 metres to ensure that the Parliament buildings remain dominant in the skyline, and that the height of new buildings reinforce the built form and character of the precinct.

The height limit and controls in the Bourke Hill precinct, in place since 1982, have served the city very well, preserving the low scale that the parliamentary buildings, Windsor Hotel and Princess Theatre warrant whilst still facilitating an active business and recreational district.

Whilst the National Trust will not mourn the loss of the 1961 corner building, and considers that its replacement, with a contemporary façade treatment and setback from the hotel, will not be detrimental to the heritage values of the hotel or the precinct, the Trust nonetheless believes that the height should be reduced by two levels to match the existing.