An update for those in the community interested in the status of this significant landmark at the site of the former Royal Hospital for Women, 6-22 Young St, Paddington.
Storm Event and Structural Damage
Following a series of storm events and a lighting strike in early December 2024, the upper 10-12 metres of the chimney suffered significant structural damage, causing extensive cracking through bricks and mortar joints.
Chimney showing strapping on 7 May 2025. Click to enlarge.
Photographic evidence and structural reports assessed the chimney as unsafe, and the bricks unsuitable for recovery and impractical for re-use.
An exclusion zone was set up in December and temporary make-safe works were carried out, but to address imminent safety issues due to the risk of falling objects, the exclusion zone remains in place and three townhouses and one apartment within that zone were vacated shortly before Christmas. They remain vacant, with the residents relocated into temporary accommodation.
The ongoing exclusion zone restrictions also create operational difficulties for residents and potential liability concerns for the Strata Committee and owners.
Development Consent
On 3 April 2025 the Woollahra Local Planning Panel granted development consent to the Development Application (DA) for “remedial works” to the upper section (12 metres) of the former RHW chimney.
The scope of works at this stage is limited to demolition, and depending on the extent of damage discovered, the remnant part of the chimney will continue to extend for approximately 33m above the boiler house building below.
Image taken at the base of the stair adjacent to the chimney. Source: Google Maps
Conditions of consent that must be undertaken before commencement of site works and demolition include the following:
- Submission of an archival record, including photographic recording of the chimney structure.
- Documentation of the salvage methodology for the white glazed bricks forming the RHW lettering.
- a) The extent of demolition must be a maximum of 12 metres, and it is expected that the minimum amount of bricks will be removed to enable a stable and safe chimney structure.
- b) The uppermost face of the truncated chimney is to be finished in weather proof capping material
- A Heritage Interpretation Plan must be prepared, submitted and implemented within 12 months after the demolition. It is to include options to interpret the full former height of the chimney and its significance, including the “RHW” lettering and re-use of the salvaged gazed white bricks and options of displaying these on the site, possibly in the form of a curved wall.
These and other consent conditions will allow changes and/or further information to be provided to assess specific issues identified during the assessment of the demolition process.
The chimney in 2017. Credit: Simon Wood Photography
The Paddington Society Submission
The Paddington Society has consistently appreciated the urgency to carry out the remedial works to prevent structural failure after the lighting strike, and we have not opposed the DA for the remedial works. However, our submission to Council expressed the hope that some of the undamaged bricks could be re-used, and deteriorated removed bricks could be replaced with like-for-like, with the aim of eventually reinstating the chimney to its former height and tapered appearance.
Heritage Outcome
WMC Council’s Heritage Assessment of this DA and the Heritage Officer’s concluded that:
“… the structural integrity of the chimney structure has been so compromised by the lightning strike in December 2024 that it cannot be retained in its entirety. It has also been established that salvage and reuse of all of the viable brick units is not reasonable given the limitations on the structure preventing it from being able to support scaffolding which would make salvage more feasible. The salvage and reuse of the white glazed brick units that form the RHW lettering is considered to be an acceptable compromise, and this has been addressed by the conditions as recommended.”
