The first stage of the project included the preparation of a typographical study of control towers, which has identified developments in the design, height and location of the towers since the interwar period. We assessed the 28 towers owned or leased by Airservices Australia at locations all around the country.

In the second stage, the 13 towers identified as having potential heritage values meeting a Commonwealth listing criterion were examined more closely, of which six went forward for nomination. Lovell Chen is now undertaking heritage management plans for the six. The first of these, for Essendon ATC Tower No.3 at Essendon Airport in Melbourne was completed in September 2016. The HMP for the tower at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport was completed in 2017, and we are working on HMPs for towers in Hobart, Launceston, Bankstown (NSW) and Parafield (SA).

The control tower project was undertaken as part of Airservices Australia’s compliance with the requirements of the Environmental Protection & Biodiversity Act. It may be the first detailed study of the building type in the world.