The restoration of century-old cottages within two historic adjacent Perth streets has won a prestigious UNESCO conservation award – the only Australian project to be honoured in 2017.
The Brookman and Moir Streets Precinct won the Award of Distinction in this year’s UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
The precinct consists of 58 semi-detached workers’ cottages, built as a residential estate for working class families between 1897 and 1898. The precinct was included in the State Register of Heritage Places in 2006.
The UNESCO Asia‐Pacific Awards recognise the efforts of private individuals and organisations, which have successfully restored and conserved significant heritage structures.
The UNESCO judges said the Brookman-Moir project had revitalised the streetscape and returned a sense of community to the area.
“The revival of the Brookman-Moir precinct underscored the importance of recognising and safeguarding everyday urban fabric as part of a holistic strategy in sustaining historic urban landscapes,” UNESCO said.
The precinct was shortlisted for nomination to the 2017 UNESCO Awards following its win at the 2016 WA Heritage Awards. It is the sixth Western Australian heritage project in six years to be honoured by UNESCO since a relationship was forged with the Heritage Council to endorse WA Heritage Award-winning projects to these prestigious awards.