Sydney warehouse comes with mechanical, moving lips

The iconic warehouse in Erskineville famous for the large pair of lips that adorn the facade is up for sale.

One of the area’s most recognisable properties, the Lips building as it is known, has been used as a photographic studio and is a popular site, even featuring as a Pokestop in the mobile app Pokemon GO.

Co-owner Grant Pudig purchased the warehouse back in 2013 with the intent to develop the site. He was drawn to the property by the 3m-long lips that make the building so famous.

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“They are a very important part of the building and an iconic part of Erskineville,” he said.

“The amount of people who photograph the site is incredible.”

Accompanying the lips is a mechanical tongue that moves from side to side, while the lips themselves have been painted by Sydney artist Beastman.

The site is full of potential and has development approval to convert the warehouse into six stylish townhouses, the largest with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Potential plans for the building show the colourful lips are here to stay.

“I think the potential of the property lies in not what it is but what it can be,” Pudig says.

Built between late 1938 and 1940, the warehouse occupies 441sqm of land.

The design is warehouse inspired, with spacious rooms and big outdoor areas. It has been architecturally designed by Tone Wheeler of Environa Studio, with a special emphasis on sustainability.

Listing agent Duncan Gordon of Raine and Horne Newtown is selling the warehouse with Michael Harris. It is the property’s location and potential that Gordon believes is its biggest selling point.

They are a very important part of the building and an iconic part of Erskineville

“It is located in one of the most popular inner city fringe suburbs and is a standout property in a standout area,” he says.

“To secure a large warehouse of this size this close to the city is unheard of.”

For those who are worried about the future of lips, it looks as though they are here to stay, with the lips featuring in the new plans.

“It adds to the mystery of the property. It is more than a warehouse, it is an iconic local building,” Gordon says.

This article from the Inner West Courier was originally published as “Erskineville ‘lips’ building to go under the hammer”.