Cobar in far-western NSW has been awarded the top prize at the state’s National Trust Heritage Awards, earning the Judges Choice Award for Dunn & Hillam Architects and Cobar Shire Council following the revitalisation of its museum and visitor Information centre.  

The Great Cobar Museum and Visitor Information Centre also won the Conservation – Built Heritage Award and was Highly Commended in the Conservation – Interiors and Objects category, with the jury calling it “an incredible regional project that has completely revived the significant heritage building”.  

Cobar long known for its community spirit and “get it done” attitude has excelled once again, proving it’s not where you are but what you can get done that matters.  

As well as being lauded by the National Trust Awards as the most impressive project in the state, this $2.8m project has breathed new life into the building. It was originally constructed as the headquarters of the Great Cobar Mining Company in 1910, and was later used as a boarding house, before being converted into the town’s museum in the 1980s.  

The Cobar Shire Council – which commissioned the project and has since engaged Dunn & Hillam Architects to work on its youth centre, childcare centre, showgrounds and the museum’s second stage – has been delighted with the community’s response to the new facilities.  

“From an operational point of view, Council is overjoyed.” says Demi Smith, Tourism Manager at Cobar Shire Council. “In the first three months of the Museum and Visitors Information Centre opening, we had till takings that equalled the entire annual takings of the previous year prior to renovation, which represented a 400% increase in revenue.  

“And from a staffing point of view, the staff are really comfortable and proud of their new workplace and community asset,” Smith adds. “We have had a huge amount of community interest in holding functions in this new asset for the town.”  

Peter Vlatko Cobar Shire General Manager – Peter Abbott Mayor o Cobar Shire Council – Carly Hunter - Projects Co-ordinator –Ashley Dunn Co-Director of Dunn & Hillam Architects.  

The National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards is an annual celebration of outstanding practice in the field of heritage, awarding excellence in conservation, protection, and interpretation of Aboriginal, built, natural and cultural heritage over the past year.  

They are the signature event of the Australian Heritage Festival in New South Wales, co-ordinated by the National Trust and proudly supported by the NSW Government through Heritage NSW. The awards were presented at a ceremony at Doltone House in Sydney on Friday 13 May.  

“It’s very exciting to be a part of such an amazing development for Tourism in Cobar,” Tourism Officer Samantha Smith said. “We have had phenomenal feedback from the first stage and the future is bright for Cobar with the next two stages set to begin with the outdoor section,” she said. 

Dunn & Hillam Architects are based in Sydney and specialises in civic, heritage and community buildings for clients in cities and regional towns.  

According to Director Ashley Dunn, the Project presented some significant challenges in the beginning and a lot of time was spent looking at and documenting the building which in turn enabled them to understand the first priorities in terms of conservation, and assisted the future design and purpose to emerge organically from their research and observations. 

The project consisted of making the building accessible via a sculptural entry ramp, revealing, restoring and presenting the building as a key exhibit within the collection, reclaiming the ground floor for public use and reinstating previously demolished verandahs.

Remote towns like Cobar incur a 35% premium to construction costs compared with building in major cities, so the $2.8m total project cost was extremely challenging. 

The project will most definitely enhance the cultural life of the people of Cobar and those who visit the museum by its careful design of the exhibitions to tell Cobar’s whole story from social and domestic life to the mining history, and the past and present stories of the traditional owners the Wangaaypuwan people of the Ngiyampaa nation.  

The Great Cobar Museum and Visitors Information Centre sits physically and culturally at the heart of Cobar, serving a vibrant local community and visitors.  

With the increase in travellers following the pandemic the town is looking forward to receiving more visitors to the Musuem and Visitors Centre in the hope of showing them exactly what an amazing place Cobar really is - Heart and soul of the far west.