One of Tasmania’s most significant modernist buildings is being transformed into a Medicare mental health centre after sitting vacant for several years.
Snow’s Dry Cleaning, designed by architect Esmond Dorney in 1957, is undergoing conversion as part of a $1.1 billion federal investment in mental health services.
The glass structure at 388 Main Road features a distinctive butterfly roof and occupies a prominent corner opposite Northgate shopping centre.
Dorney is credited with bringing mid-century modernism to Tasmania after training with Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony, the architects of Canberra.
Glenorchy mayor Sue Hickey told ABC Radio the community had been eager to see the landmark given new life.
“So many people have been abuzz in the last few months when they saw a builder’s sign go up,” she said.
“We wanted this building to have a life again and be useful and not be at risk of vandalism.”
The building has suffered damage during its years of vacancy.
Hickey described the structure as “a treasure” that generations of locals have grown up admiring.
“It’s so elegant and yet it’s modernist architecture,” she said.
The project forms part of a national rollout of 31 new and upgraded Medicare mental health centres, including five in Tasmania.
Hickey said the area desperately needed more services and she was confident the building would be properly restored.
“When you’re working with something as precious as this building is, which is predominantly glass and it’s old, it needs to be really well done,” she said.
Dorney was posthumously awarded the Australian Institute of Architects’ President’s Prize in 2008 and Tasmania’s highest residential design award now bears his name.
The building has drawn admirers including MONA founder David Walsh, who has said it sparked his interest in art and architecture as a child.
