Project description from Tonkin Zulaikha Greer: The Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) is a Commonwealth Statutory Authority that assists Indigenous Australians to acquire and manage land in a sustainable way providing cultural, social, economic or environmental benefits for themselves and future generations. In 2006 the ILC asked Tonkin Zulaikha Greer to design a three-storey office building on a site in Redfern commonly known as the Black Theatre Site. The site holds many memories for the Redfern Aboriginal community and had been vacant for a number of years.

The new building accommodates the offices and broadcasting studios of Gadigal Information Services (Koori Radio), National Indigenous Television (NITV) as well as other Indigenous organisations.

The site has a principal façade to the West on to Cope Street, three-storeys high and approximately 16m wide. The façade is clad in perforated louvre panels that provide sun shading and a canvas to showcase a significant commissioned indigenous artwork.

This strategy of cladding the building with an artwork, by Indigenous Artist Adam Hill, provides a proud Indigenous statement, sense of ownership and identity for the Redfern community. The artwork provides a vehicle by which to promote the new building and the area engendering a sense of optimism about the future for this vital inner-city community.

Client : The Indigenous Land Corporation
Location : Redfern, NSW
Completed : 2010
Team : Tim Greer, Brian Zulaikha, John Chesterman, Tamara Frangelli, Roger O’Sullivan, Julin Ang

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