A historic former Chatswood fire station has been demolished to make way for a 27-storey build-to-rent development, following a lengthy dispute over whether part of the heritage-listed building could be retained within the project.
The former Chatswood Fire Station at 767 Pacific Highway was demolished on 6 August 2026, removing a building that had stood on the site since the closing years of the 19th century.
Originally known as Willoughby Fire Station, the building was completed in 1899 and opened on 14 February 1900. It was later known as Chatswood Fire Station and remained part of the suburb’s streetscape long after it ceased operating in 1945.
A rare survivor from early Chatswood
The single-storey brick station was built in the Federation Classical Freestyle architectural style and originally featured a brick lookout tower on its north-west corner. Planning records indicate the tower appears to have been demolished between 1964 and 1970, while the interior was substantially altered over subsequent decades.
Despite those changes, the former station remained listed as an item of local environmental heritage under the Willoughby Local Environmental Plan. Its Pacific Highway frontage remained a visible reminder of the suburb’s earlier development amid the high-rise buildings of modern Chatswood.
Council argued for the historic façade to stay
The future of the old station became a contested issue during assessment of the Novus on Albert development. Willoughby City Council opposed complete demolition and argued for the historic façade to be incorporated into the podium of the new building.
That option was ultimately rejected. The Department’s assessment material said a dismantling-and-reconstruction approach could result in less than half of the original fabric being retained, with replacement material required to reconstruct the façade.
The planning assessment also recorded Heritage NSW’s view that relocating the façade as a single structure was not practically feasible, and that reconstructing it within the larger podium raised questions about the authenticity of the heritage outcome.
Another complication was the station’s position partly within land reserved for potential future widening of the Pacific Highway. The Independent Planning Commission ultimately approved the development, including demolition of the fire station, subject to conditions requiring archival recording and heritage interpretation.
A 27-storey rental tower takes its place
The approved Novus on Albert development at 763–769 Pacific Highway will contain 198 build-to-rent apartments in a 27-storey shop-top housing building. The State Significant Development also provides for ground-floor retail, three basement levels of parking and rooftop communal open space.
The project will add 198 rental dwellings to central Chatswood, while the approved scheme required demolition rather than physical retention of the former station.
The building is gone, but its history must remain
Conditions attached to the development required a photographic archival record of the station before demolition. They also require a Heritage Interpretation Plan covering material suitable for salvage, measures to protect items intended for reuse and a subsequent strategy explaining how the station’s heritage will be interpreted within the completed development.
The Museum of Fire has also documented the station’s history and its significance to the development of firefighting in the district. What eventually appears on the redeveloped site will not replace the original building, but it will determine how clearly future generations can understand what occupied this corner of Chatswood for more than a century.
Published 19-Aug-2026
