Office Adaptive Reuse Planned for Former Church in Adelaide

A former church more recently used for TV studios would be transformed into office space in the latest adaptive reuse scheme proposed in the South Australian capital.

Merlino Development Group has filed the plans for former North Adelaide Primitive Methodist Church at 230 Tynte Street, proposing three levels of office accommodation. 

The scheme’s 803sq m GFA would offer nine tenancies and a new level would be built for use as a 130-seat restaurant including a terrace.

A lobby area is planned to front Tynte Street and there would be extensive conservation works and “make good” works on the heritage building “which has been the subject of some less-than sympathetic interventions”.

It is the remaining piece of the puzzle within the former Channel 9 studios redevelopment area, according to the application.

The Channel 9 site has been developed as serviced apartments after the media group moved offices in 2015, ending a 56-year association with Tynte Street.

▲ The church was designed by Daniel Garlick in 1882 as a “cathedral church for Methodists", according to the State Library of South Australia.

A previous development application for a residential project was approved by the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) in 2021, but Merlino recently acquired the property.

The DA has adapted those former plans to the current office proposal. 

The development application from planners at PBA said the project “represents an important opportunity to provide a contemporary use for this heritage building which has languished for some time since its use in conjunction with [Channel] 9”. 

The development would ensure “its long-term conservation and contemporary relevance”, it said. 

Adelaide has been a hotbed of adaptive reuse projects thanks to its plethora of heritage buildings—around 57 per cent of buildings in the state capital are more than 40 years old— and projects big and small have been lodged in recent years.

While other capitals have struggled to get projects to stack up, adaptive reuse is proving a lucrative bet and often offering prime office space that will be in demand once the sector bounces back.