Shane Langdon of Langdon Building bought the former Berry Anderson building on Dana Street after it was passed in at auction recently. The building had been owned by the Berry family since it was purpose-built for the printer in 1902.

It's a different project for the Ballarat building company, says Shane Langdon.

"We're used to building new things all the time, but the part I'm really interested in this time is keeping the heritage of this building: creating a story of what it was in the past, and also creating it can be into future, while keeping the historical value," Mr Langdon says.

"Within the design concepts that we and our consultants have brought to this is making sure that we keep the features of the building. What I mean by that is taking the textures of the brickwork and the timber and make them the feature in the story of the building long term, and turn it into a New York-style office complex."

Built in 1902 and remodelled in 1912 with massive reinforced steel joists to take the weight of imported machinery and hugely heavy rolls of paper, a walk through the old printery was a genuine journey back to the past.

In fact, some of the gas and electricity powered paper bag-making machines brought to Australia at this time last century by original proprietor Andrew Burgess Berry remain on the first floor, too large to remove for the sale of the property.

"I still don't how to move those," Shane Langdon says, laughing.

"That's just one challenge. What I think's very important is for future generations to understand how our culture was built. And if we can protect and nourish that over the next few decades, it'll keep the brand of what Ballarat was built on."

The planning which goes into the considerate conversion of an iconic building will take time, he says.

"It'll probably take us probably six months to get to a point where we're ready to complete the plans for council. So we're at least 12 if not 18 months away from having an approved planning permit. Then from a construction point of view, and we haven't quite got this down to exactly what we want to do with the building yet, because there's a lot of work that goes into that, but I suspect it'll take at least another 12 months after that to actually complete the construction process.

"So we are probably two or two-and-a-half years away from a finished project. But I'm really looking forward to the voyage of it, if that makes sense."

Located close to the Ballarat law courts, the central shopping district, education precinct and other city offices, the building could lend itself to a variety of tenants and uses into the future, but Mr Langdon says it is important to remember and acknowledge what a role Berry Anderson played in the literature of Ballarat's daily life for over 100 years.

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"If you've seen photos of the inside of the building, and understand how it was used previously, it actually sent a lot of the written communication which people shared here in Ballarat as a whole for its entire existence. There are multiple stories and decades of history that came from here. We've got a very rich environment and it's something we should be proud of."

Mr Langdon says overall Ballarat is going through one of the biggest domestic building expansions he's seen in his career.

"We've had an overwhelming clientele coming through over the last 18 months, since the the government grants came into play back in March or April last year," he says.

"I'm watching the property development market, especially in the land property development market, and it's something I don't know if we'll ever see again, the inquiries coming through, trying to get land. The prices have pushed dramatically over the last six months.

"If we talk about commercial development, you can actually see it's starting to change. Gov Hub was a statement that will change the way buildings are built in Ballarat. Lyons Street, a five or six-storey apartment complex, will change the way people think about living in Ballarat. We need to get the demographics right - but Ballarat's on the move, and we need to encourage it."

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