THE host of Grand Designs Australia has called on Ballarat to be brave in deciding a replacement for the Civic Hall and not try to recreate the past. Melbourne architect and Grand Designs host Peter Maddison said Ballarat should not try to recapture the historical architectural style of the central city area and find a design that was bold, interesting and for the future.“The worst thing anyone can do is copy the style from the past,” he said when meeting The Courier at an Austar media event last week.“People have to have faith in the architects – if we only think retrospectively, there is no hope in the world.”Mr Maddison said the city could find inspiration in the ideas that formed Melbourne’s Federation Square.Mr Maddison regarded Federation Square an earnest success for Melbourne despite its divisive beginnings.He said the people of Melbourne, like those of Ballarat, base their architectural views on past experiences and would often react negatively to designs that challenge their position. And though he described the site as aggressive and admitted it had not been fully embraced by Melburnians, he said it would be hard to argue the site was not a victory for Victorian capital.“Fed Square was a totally crazy experiment in architecture and people hated it to begin with. But Melbourne loves it now – it has become the heart of Melbourne,” he said.“A modern design like Fed Square can actually help you appreciate historical architecture surrounding it more with the contemporary contrast.”Mr Maddison said the new site at Civic Hall needed to be designed around its proposed function and not try to dictate its personality as a public space.He pressed the importance of scale and said that the new structure should not dwarf the surrounding buildings with its size.He also said council must be careful in selecting an architect to create the new building or buildings at the Civic Hall site.“A lot of younger architects work for nothing and try to take full control of a building. You need to find an architect with the right qualifications and capabilities, go through the process and select the one that is best,” Mr Maddison said.Ballarat City Council has received 26 expressions of interest in the $135 million Civic Hall site redesign. Council voted in June to demolish the 1950s hall and redevelop the Mair Street site with two six-level office towers for council staff and an extra 1085 CBD parking spaces.Council is expected to release a shortlist of up to five interested companies within the coming weeks to take part in the next stage of the design.