Ken Woolley-designed townhouse under consideration for state heritage listing

An award-winning townhouse by the late Sydney architect Ken Woolley is under consideration for listing on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. Known as Woolley Townhouse or Paddington House, the 1980 home at 8A Cooper St, Paddington, served as the home of Ken Woolley and his wife Virginia Braden Woolley for seven years.

According to the Heritage Council of NSW, the townhouse is the last of three residences Woolley designed for himself, and "is an early demonstration of his capacity to combine postmodern characteristics with Sydney School design."

In a Revisited article of the house for Houses magazine in 2020, Peter Salhani described the project as a testing ground for Woolley's new ideas around urban living, and also a homage to Virginia's love of music due to its grand-piano-shaped form. At the time it was built, the building was recognised as the best new house in NSW, winning the Wilkinson Award for Residential Architecture in 1983.

Along with alterations from a previous custodian, Milenko Mijuskovic of Studio Redux, the home has seen recent alterations and additions, including a basement-level bar and an outdoor terrace designed by Casey Brown Architecture, though the Heritage Council of NSW notes that "much of this work is in line with the original design intent of Ken Woolley."

The matter of the home's state heritage significance has been ongoing since 2021, when the building was nominated by Woollahra Municipal Council after being identified as a potential item of state significance in a 2005 heritage study by Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners. The dwelling was first identified by the council as an item of high local significance within the Paddington Heritage Conservation Area in 2004.

In a summary paper last year, the Heritage Council of NSW recommended to Minister for Heritage Penny Sharpe that the Woolley Townhouse be considered for state heritage listing. The state's independent planning commission has been tasked with reviewing the proposal and receiving public submissions before the minister makes a final decision on the listing.

Further details on the listing and process for public submissions, which are open until Wednesday 10 September 2025, can be found online.