Conventional scheme
- ~88
- Rooms
- 5
- Storeys
Strictly within the Design Development Overlay height limit in force at the time.
Case study · Residential hotel
110 rooms on a heritage-listed landmark site in the heart of Bendigo.
A multi-lot CBD retail block, a live substation and two parallel heritage approvals — turned into a six-storey, residential hotel ready for construction.
- Location
- Bendigo CBD, VIC
- Sector
- Residential hotel
- Authorities
- Bendigo City Council & Heritage Victoria
- Value band
- $20M–$25M
- Status
- Documentation complete, ready for construction commencement
- Hotel rooms approved
- 110
- Hotel rooms approved
- Storeys — above the overlay limit of the time
- 6+ basement
- Storeys — above the overlay limit of the time
- Gross building area
- 4,930m²
- Gross building area
- Permits secured in parallel — Council & Heritage Victoria
- 2
- Permits secured in parallel — Council & Heritage Victoria
01 — The project
A double-storey retail block, rethought as a four-star CBD hotel.
- Client
- Bendigo Hotel Investments Pty Ltd
- Brief
- Maximise yield for a residential hotel
- Existing site
- Double-storey retail premises across several individual lots
- Setting
- Bendigo CBD pedestrian mall
The client came to us with a clear commercial goal: get the most rooms the site could carry, to a high operational standard. The site was an existing double-storey retail premises in the Bendigo CBD, made up of several individual lots.
02 — The problem
Eight constraints. One site.
On paper, this was a site that should not have worked: heritage at state and Council level, archaeology, a live substation in the middle of the floor plate, and almost no vehicle access. Each one needed its own process, its own consultant and its own approval.
- 01Heritage · Archaeology
A heritage-listed site with archaeological and Indigenous cultural significance
We worked alongside a heritage consultant and archaeologist through every Council and Heritage Victoria meeting and presentation, managed public notice, and coordinated on-site excavation — including artefact extraction, cataloguing and delivery to Heritage Victoria.
- 02Approvals
Two heritage processes, run in parallel
A heritage overlay that required both Council and Heritage Victoria approval: two applications, two advertising periods, two permits and two sets of endorsed plans
- 03Title
Multiple lots and a body corporate
We managed title consolidation end to end — advertising, referrals, body corporate approval, water authority negotiation, a bank guarantee in lieu of works, and registration at Titles Office.
- 04Planning
A prescriptive Design Development Overlay
Fixed height and setback controls that, read conventionally, capped the site at five storeys.
- 05Built form
A landmark seen from across the city
We prepared site diagrams from vantage points hundreds of metres away to show the six-storey form sits comfortably in the CBD skyline.
- 06Heritage fabric
An 1870s building to keep
Parts of the original 1870s building were retained, integrated and restored as part of the new works.
- 07Services
A live substation in the middle of the site
The substation and its HV easement power the CBD precinct. We designed structural propping so it stays live with five storeys built over it.
- 08Access
An almost-island site with pedestrian-only frontages
With only a minor laneway at one edge, we negotiated with Council to let delivery vehicles, concrete trucks and crane assembly use the adjoining pedestrian mall during construction.
Who we worked with
- Bendigo City Council
- Heritage Victoria
- Utility authorities
- BeBendigo retailers' association
- Local State Member
- Heritage consultant
- Archaeologist
03 — The first move
No on-site car parking.
The decision that shaped everything else was made early: a four-star hotel on a CBD pedestrian mall doesn't need its own car park.
Guest drop-off happens nearby, and we negotiated an agreement with Council for guests to use the Council multi-deck car parks close by. That freed the whole ground floor for hospitality — a generous restaurant, bar and outdoor dining — with every room on the levels above.
- L5Guest roomsAccommodation
- L4Guest roomsAccommodation
- L3Guest roomsAccommodation
- L2Guest roomsAccommodation
- L1Guest roomsAccommodation
- GRestaurant · Bar · Outdoor dining+ Retained substation
- BSmall basement
Guest parking: nearby Council multi-deck car parks, by agreement with Council.
04 — Before & after
One more storey. Twenty-two more rooms.
What a by-the-book reading of the controls would have delivered, against what was approved.
Approved scheme
- 110
- Rooms
- 6
- Storeys + basement
Approved above the overlay height of the time, on 4,930 m² of gross building area.
+22Rooms+25% yield
How the extra storey was won
The overlay allowed five storeys, but Council was already in the process of updating it to allow more height. We built the case around that incoming change and negotiated a height above the prescribed limit of the day — securing the sixth storey.
05 — What we delivered
One practice, from first sketch to site.
De Nova led design, approvals and documentation directly — with contract administration to follow once construction starts.
Schematic design
Massing, yield and the hotel brief.
CompleteTown planning
Council and Heritage Victoria permits.
CompleteBuilding documentation
Full documentation, complete.
CompleteTender
Builder procurement.
CompleteContract administration
To follow, through construction.
Upcoming
Documentation complete, ready for construction commencement
06 — Working with Council
Two authorities. No mediation. No VCAT.
We met both Council and Heritage Victoria during the client's purchase due diligence — before the site was bought — to confirm both would support the proposal in principle. Both did.
| Bendigo City Council | Heritage Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-application | SupportiveDuring due diligence | SupportiveDuring due diligence |
| Objections | 1Same objector for both | 1Same objector for both |
| RFIs | 1Addressed | 1Addressed |
| Mediation / VCAT | None | None |
Planning permit — Council17 months
Heritage permit — Heritage Victoria12 months
Both advertising periods also drew letters of support from local retail operators backing the project.
07 — Honest notes
What we'd tell you over coffee.
Nobody in our industry publishes this part. We think you should see it.
The heritage process took longer than we'd have liked.
Both the Council and Heritage Victoria processes ran long. We believe we approached the applications the right way, but officers asked for far more information at the RFI stage than we'd normally expect — likely because this was a landmark site.
That added considerable work and time to the program.
“Nothing. I think we managed the process well. Just a very complex site.”
Project imagery
The proposal
Case study
Experience across diverse sectors
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A unique vision with unlimited possibilities