For many years most of the buildings at the Sydney Mint were just ruinous reminders of a significant historic place until 2005 when the site was superbly restored. The restoration was sensitively undertaken by incorporating the remains of the old buildings with contemporary architectural forms which now houses the HQ for the Historic Houses Trust and the Mint Museum.

The 'Gold Melting Room' has now become a popular Sydney contemporary multi-function event space catering for both social and business gatherings. The dramatic ceiling in this space was created from pre-finished custom curved SUPACOUSTIC perforated panels in Anegre natural timber veneer. SUPAWOOD provided comprehensive technical advice and support throughout the installation.

The sweep of the curved panels starts at the full height of the front double-storey glazed wall and continues across the entire ceiling. Services including audio equipment have been sensitively integrated. When looking into the space from the courtyard outside, the timber curved ceiling is perfectly set against the historic setting.

The curved ceiling starts at the full height of the front double-storey glazed wall.

The Mint restoration project has over the years received many awards including the RAIA's Sir John Sulman Medallion for Outstanding Public Architecture and the Francis Greenway Award for Conservation simultaneously (for the first time in the Institute's history), and the Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage. It was also nominated by the UK's Building Services Journal as one of the "top 30 ground breaking buildings of the world".

Photos © John Gollings