Producer secures site for next series of The Block
Three heritage buildings in a once-regional town absorbed into metropolitan Melbourne about 30 years ago have been bought by The Block producers.
Buildings B26, B27 and B28, to be known as Buildings 1, 2 and 3, within a former asylum-turned-university at Sunbury, will be the focus of the 23rd season next year.
The state government is the seller; it acquired the property from Victoria University in 2018.
The buildings sit at the heart of Jacksons Hill, a 193ha residential estate developed since 1995 by Development Victoria around the former Sunbury psychiatric hospital precinct.
What is planned
The buildings are the former Female Infirmary Ward, Female Admission and Special Wards, and former hospital within the complex for years known as the Sunbury Lunatic Asylum.
They will be repurposed as five family homes.
A sixth renovation will also take place nearby, with returning contestants to work on a spin-off The Block: The House Next Door.
The project marks a return to heritage renovation for The Block.
This and the last season have been on new builds – in Mt Eliza and Daylesford.
The year before that it extended and renovated a 1980s Phillip Island motel.
From asylum to family homes
The Sunbury buildings are at the eastern edge of the 33ha former university campus.
The property began in the 1860s as the Sunbury Industrial School before being redeveloped as an asylum in 1879.
It was expanded between 1892 and 1912 before closing in 1968 (continues below).
It subsequently became the Caloola Training Centre, operating until 1992, before Victoria University took over.
The university ceased using it in 2009 as the economy was reeling following the Global Financial Crisis.
Central site
The government developed a master plan for the precinct which will see residential development alongside retained, repurposed heritage buildings.
The three buildings selected for The Block were assessed in a 2017 adaptive reuse study.
Building 1, also B26, the former Female Infirmary Ward, contained large rooms of about 70-130 square metres across one level.
It was assessed then to be in reasonable condition.
Building 2, or B27, the ex-Female Admission and Special Wards, contained smaller rooms around a central spine over two levels.
It was deemed difficult to adapt and in poor condition.
Building 3, the former Male Hospital, or B28, contained larger rooms over a single level.
It was considered more flexible and in reasonable condition.
The buildings are protected under the Victorian Heritage Register as part of Caloola (Former Sunbury Mental Hospital), H0937.
The registration covers buildings B1-B45 and associated landscape, roads, pathways and other elements across the precinct.
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