Historical black and white photo of the Canberra Brickworks Hardy Kiln under construction in the 1920s

A site of historical heritage significance

Located within the project site are the near-forgotten, heritage-listed Canberra Brickworks and the Yarralumla Brickworks Railway Remnants.

In operation between 1913 and 1976, the Canberra Brickworks was the city’s first industrial manufacturing facility. It provided the base material used in the construction of early Canberra buildings, including the bricks that have colloquially become known as ‘Canberra Reds’.

From 1923 to 1927, the railway transported these bricks for the construction of many prominent buildings such as Old Parliament House, Hotel Canberra, East Block and Hotel Kurrajong. The Remnants of the former railway is a rare example of one of the few surviving remnants of the once extensive rail network used in the early development of Canberra.

Today the Canberra Brickworks and Railway Remnants provide a window into Canberra’s industrial and social history, but are currently neglected and not fit for public access. This project provides an opportunity to protect the history that’s already in place, but also an opportunity to restore it for all of Canberra and other visitors to discover a side of Canberra's history that many probably don’t realise existed.

Conservation Management Plan

In 2010, the formerly known Land Development Agency engaged heritage and conservation management consultants Lovell Chen to prepare a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the Canberra Brickworks site.

The successful tenderer for the sale of the Canberra Brickworks will be required to prepare a revised Conservation Management Plan for approval by the ACT Heritage Council.