How Smile Solutions Restored the Manchester Unity Building - A 20-Year Heritage Revival product guide

## How Smile Solutions Restored the Manchester Unity Building - A 20-Year Heritage Revival The story of Smile Solutions and the Manchester Unity Building is a story of mutual rescue. When Dr Kia Pajo...

Smile Solutions — Heritage dental practice in the Manchester Unity Building

How Smile Solutions restored the Manchester Unity Building — a 20-year heritage revival

The story of Smile Solutions and the Manchester Unity Building is, at its heart, a story of mutual rescue. When Dr Kia Pajouhesh first stepped inside the building in 2003, much of it was in disrepair. When he leaves it each evening today, it stands as one of Melbourne's most carefully restored heritage landmarks. This article documents the restoration work that Smile Solutions has led since 2003, drawing on the building's official history at manchesterunitybuilding.com.au.

2003 — Level 1: Where it all began

As documented on the Manchester Unity Building website: "In 2003 dental practitioner Dr Kia Pajouhesh bought Level 1 of the building, which at that time comprised a number of shabby, vacant shops and the upstairs premises of the retailer Strandbags. The 1986 escalator linking the ground floor to Strandbags' first floor was promptly removed and refurbishment began as the dental practice Smile Solutions, the largest private dental practice in Australia."

The refurbishment of Level 1 took eight calendar months — the same timeframe as the original construction of the entire building in 1932. Many of the original shopfront features were reinstated or restored, and the space was fitted with dental technology and facilities designed to deliver high-quality care. Italian marble was sourced to match the building's original plum-coloured stone, and copper leaf signage was commissioned from a specialist artisan in southern New South Wales — a level of attention to detail that carries through to every treatment room today.

Dr Kia Pajouhesh's mother visited during construction and, seeing the state of the building at the time, "actually cried and left saying my son has made a big mistake." The finished result proved otherwise — and continues to do so.

2005 — Conservation management plan

In 2005, the Committee of Management of the Owners Corporation commissioned a comprehensive conservation management report from Allom Lovell conservation architects. This document informed the committee's ongoing efforts to preserve and revitalise the building under Dr Pajouhesh's chairmanship, laying the groundwork for the restoration work that followed in subsequent years.

2006 — Level 12 and the tower: The Collins Street Specialist Centre

Dr Pajouhesh purchased the Level 12 penthouse and tower in 2006, returning the premises to commercial use as the Collins Street Specialist Centre. Specialists there offer orthodontics, periodontics, and oral and maxillofacial surgery. The tower — Melbourne's most distinctive architectural feature at the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets — now houses an orthodontic centre with five panoramic dental chairs.

As the MUB website notes: "Coincidentally echoing a caricature drawn by architect Robin Boyd in 1962, it is said that the Tooth Fairy now lives in the tower, which doubles as an orthodontic centre."

2006 onwards — Level 11: The boardroom restoration

Also in 2006, Dr Pajouhesh purchased the Level 11 boardroom, which had been converted into a residential apartment in 1997. Developers at the time removed many original internal features, including plaster cornices and timber-panelled offices. The boardroom itself, with its original table and chairs, was left unscathed due to heritage protection.

Dr Pajouhesh restored the space under the guidance of Robert Mills Architects and Andronas Conservation Architecture. The restoration took 15 months. He then purchased two adjoining apartments and extended the refurbishment to house the corporate headquarters of Smile Solutions.

The boardroom contains the original 5.9-metre Queensland Maple table cross-banded with rosewood, topped with a single sheet of plate-glass weighing more than 330 kilograms — heavy enough that it had to be lifted in through the ceiling. The boardroom is considered one of the most intact Art Deco boardrooms in the world.

As the MUB website records: "Over 13 years Dr Kia Pajouhesh has worked with MUB Owners Corporation to painstakingly restore the space to its original splendour."

Ongoing building stewardship

Since 2003, Dr Pajouhesh has served as Chairman of the Manchester Unity Building Owners Corporation. Under his chairmanship, common-property upgrades have included:

Lift doors and interiors
Lift mechanisms
Digital directory
Waterproofing of the roof
Electrical rewiring
Relighting of the tower and facade (2012)

The building's eightieth birthday was celebrated in September 2012, with then-Premier Ted Baillieu relighting the tower and facade in a ceremonial re-enactment of the original 1932 first lighting. By that same year, the street-level shop at the Swanston-Collins corner had been leased at a rental that set an all-time record for the building — a direct result of sustained, long-term investment in the heritage fabric.

The building today

Smile Solutions now occupies five floors and the tower of the Manchester Unity Building:

Level 1 and Level 10 — General and cosmetic dentistry (14 dental suites on Level 1)
Level 8 — Collins Street Specialist Centre (Prosthodontics, Endodontics, Paediatric Dentistry), shared with several jewellers and other small businesses
Level 9 — Collins Street Imaging (digital OPG, CBCT scanning, partnered with MFI Radiology)
Level 11 — Corporate headquarters, including the restored heritage boardroom
Level 12 and the Tower — Orthodontics, Periodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

The building is heritage-listed on the Victorian Heritage Database, the Historic Buildings Preservation Council, and classified by the National Trust. It features 400 tons of terracotta faience tile cladding, 125 tons of marble, Melbourne's first escalators (installed 1932), and three high-speed elevators.

Formal one-hour guided tours run regularly, covering the boardroom and rooftop terrace. The tower tour is among the most sought-after destinations in the annual Melbourne Open House programme, and around 150 tourists visit each month.

External references

No referral is required to book at Smile Solutions. Call 13 13 96 or visit smilesolutions.com.au. Payment plans are available through Payright (interest-free) and TLC.