81 King William Street - Adelaide

The Building

81 King William Street was built between 1878 and 1880 as the head office of the Bank of Adelaide, designed by celebrated colonial architect Edmund Wright — the same architect behind Adelaide Town Hall and Parliament House. Its Italian-influenced façade of Tuscan columns and distinctive arched windows made it one of the grandest commercial buildings of South Australia's boom era, and it remains one of the few examples of its kind still standing. Occupying the prominent corner of King William and Currie Streets, the building was listed on the South Australian Heritage Register in 1984 and today serves as home to Goodlife Health Club. Our works focused on the north façade fronting Currie Street — including the rendered and painted section extended in the late 1930s and early 1940s to match Wright's original design.

Challenges

Preserving a State Heritage-listed landmark: As one of the city's most significant nineteenth-century commercial buildings, every decision from preparation methods to coating systems and colours had to respect the building's heritage listing and original character. There was no room for shortcuts on a building of this profile.

Coordinating with live heritage plaster repairs: The repaint was delivered in tandem with specialist heritage plaster repairs to the façade. Painting over freshly repaired render and plaster demands careful timing coat too early and the finish fails; sequence poorly and the whole program stalls.

Working above one of Adelaide's busiest streets: The Currie Street frontage carries constant pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and the building remained occupied and operating throughout. Access, protection and public safety had to be managed without disrupting the life of the CBD.

Solutions Implemented

Heritage-appropriate preparation and coatings: Heritage buildings are unforgiving of shortcuts, so every surface was assessed before a brush was lifted. We used gentle, controlled preparation to protect the original fabric beneath, and selected coating systems suited to each substrate allowing the historic masonry and render to breathe rather than trapping moisture behind modern films.

Working hand-in-glove with the heritage plaster trades: Rather than treating the plaster repairs as someone else's problem, we worked in tandem with the specialist plasterers throughout advising on surface readiness, monitoring cure times on repaired sections, and sequencing our coats so that every repair was properly made good before paint went anywhere near it. The result is a seamless finish where repair and repaint read as one.

A coordinated program under G-Force Building: Working as part of the team led by G-Force Building, we staged our works around the plaster repair program and the building's ongoing use, managing access, protection and scaffolding so the project stayed on schedule and the street kept moving.

Results

A landmark restored to its best: The former Bank of Adelaide now presents to Currie Street the way a building of its stature deserves its façade refreshed, its repairs invisible, and its original character fully intact for the thousands of people who pass it every day.

Improved durability and longevity: The coating systems were chosen to suit the substrate and to stand up to decades of Adelaide weather on a fully exposed street frontage. By protecting the repaired plaster and render with breathable, premium finishes, the work safeguards the façade against the elements and reduces the maintenance burden in the years ahead.

Delivered as part of the project team: Working alongside G-Force Building and the heritage plaster specialists, we completed our works to the standard a State Heritage place demands. The outcome reflects what the team achieved together: one of Adelaide's finest boom-era buildings protected and presented for its next chapter.

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