CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN
2014 – ongoing
From 1924 to 1970 between 400 and 600 young boys were incarcerated at the Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Today, the former Kinchela Boys Home site is a place of deep significance to survivors, their families and communites across NSW. It is the only Stolen Generations site in NSW where original buildings and layout remain.
In 2014 Design 5 were engaged to produce a Conservation Management Plan for the site. The resulting document was co-authored by the Kinchela Boys Home Survivors through a process founded on community input, the success of which was recognised by a National Trust Heritage Award in 2017.
With the site having recently become vacant, a new opportunity arises to make the significance of the site accessible to the public. Design 5 has been engaged by KBHAC in an ongoing proposal, including the detailed physical assessment of the site and its buildings, a site maintenence plan, and, subsequently an interpretation plan, bringing the history of the site to life for the public.
Design 5 is deeply privileged to experience ongoing collaboration with KBHAC, as the community works towards the powerful outcomes embodied in this site of National Truth Telling.
Recently, KBHAC along with Design 5 – Architects have been included in the 2023 Venice Biennale, the 18th International Architecture Exhibition.
AWARDS
2017 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Award (Research and Investigation Analysis)