Mair Street build was always going to be a modern design, architect says

The six-storey building on the corner of Armstrong and Mair streets was approved by City of Ballarat councillors with no parking.

The owner of site at 222 Mair Street, Clinton Krause, spoke at the delegated planning meeting, as well as town planners and the project's architect.

The plan is to build two buildings with one fronting Mair Street and the other Armstrong Street, reaching a maximum of 26.8 metres in height, similar to GovHub across the street.

Mr Krause said the building was something he wanted to be a "legacy" for his young children.

Mr Krause also owns Krause Bricks, which started in 1945 by Mr Krause's grandfather.

The masonry bricks for the building were developed by Mr Krause - four years in the making.

"This is my first opportunity to make a building that contributes to Ballarat's long history in architecture," he said at the council meeting.

"I feel proud and excited about investing in such a high quality building that will complement and enhance the central Ballarat streetscape."

From Inception Planning, Leah Clark said the proposal had a "strong local connection in its vision."

"The proposal has considerable policy support within the Ballarat planning scheme, providing for commercial building in the CBD, which will attract business investment, provide employment and foster economic growth," she said at the meeting.

Ms Clark went on to to say the design has been thought out for Ballarat.

"The design and materiality of the building has also had consideration of its context using a mix of modern and historical elements," she said.

"This allows for a more contemporary development of the scale propose without adversely affecting the significance of the heritage precinct."

Ms Clark said a consultation meeting with community members was "productive" and thanked them for coming to them with their concerns.

"The outcome of this consultation meeting resulted in substantive amendments to the proposal of most significant the removal of the entire story from the southern build form fronting Mair Street, which presents as the most sensitive interface for the development and results in a reduction of 3.8 meters," she said.

Further changes were made to window forms and proportions, and cladding was reduced.

Wardle Architects principal director Luke Jarvis, who also worked on the GovHub building, is a Ballarat resident - he told the meeting the two building forms act as "companions" to one another.

"As a prominent underdeveloped corner location this site has the potential to provide the Ballarat CBD with an example of a high quality building and facilities that we believe will enhance the city of Ballarat," he said.

In Mr Jarvis' presentation, he spoke how the building's environmental impact such as the 60 to 40 solid wall to glass ratio to reduce energy demands, while the initial design for the building is all electric, materials will be locally sourced and a rainwater tanks will be used.

"We've also included PV cells (solar panels) on the roof, and this is not a requirement but this is an additional initiative that were brought to the project," he said.

Mr Jarvis was asked about heritage, he said they were not looking to "replicate heritage buildings."

"By replicating heritage buildings that in somewhat dilutes the heritage value that Ballarat city has with some of these historic buildings," he said.

Mr Jarvis said they were always going to design a modern building.

He was also asked about parking by councillors.

"We certainly looked at all options that were potentially viable on this site. It is extremely tight," Mr Jarvis said.

He also said early car parking analysis and traffic reports supported no parking on the site.

Many members of the public also spoke at the meeting, several raising concerns over height and heritage.