The retiree and former star chef restoring Melbourne one panel at a time

2 months ago 4

When you’re restoring metal objects in full public view, such as the copper doors on Melbourne Town Hall, you must steel yourself against hecklers.

The jibes the Copper Doctors have copped include: “You missed a bit”, “why don’t you try using tomato sauce on that?” and “you’re wasting your time”.

Copper Doctors founder Brian James with employee Paul Martini at Melbourne Town Hall.

The barbs have tested their mettle, but they’re forging ahead with their unusual vocation.

Founder Brian James says it’s satisfying work. “Every job you start with something that is tarnished and that’s hiding the real beauty of it,” he says.

James, a 74-year-old retired communications consultant, stumbled into this surprising new gig in 2019, when his daughter Mikala asked him to restore the blackened copper trims of the windows of her shop, Loom Towels, in Armadale’s historic King’s Arcade.

At the time, James joked: “I don’t work with my hands!”

But he enjoyed the challenge and “revealing the beauty of copper” using sanding pads.

James later restored the facades of all 12 of the arcade’s shops and door-knocked vintage shops elsewhere, finding more work and hiring casual workers as needed.

A couple who bought a French chateau had copper and brass antiques, including a sculpted fireplace guard, restored. And for a Geelong church, the doctors restored 60 brass candleholders.

Martini working on elevators in the Manchester Unity building.

In a mansion in Sydney, James is restoring 200 objects, including copper tulip-shaped garden lamps.

His right-hand man is Paul Martini, 31, formerly a chef at Frantzen, a three Michelin-starred restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden.

Working at Melbourne CBD restaurant Izakaya Den in 2023, Martini noticed James polishing copper on a building facade near his apartment, was intrigued by a sign saying Copper Doctors and struck up a conversation.

Tired of long hours in kitchens and drawn to working outdoors, on a range of jobs, while still working with his hands, Martini began working with James on his days off.

James liked Martini’s work ethic and focus, and by April 2024, Martini became a full-time Copper Doctor. The team still includes casuals for bigger jobs.

The company works in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Geelong. The team has polished the copper panels at the Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse Bar, and is working in Swanston Street’s Manchester Unity Building.

James is proud of their work this year on Melbourne Town Hall’s two formerly dull, now dazzling, copper doors. They also restored the brass frame of the hall’s main glass doors, which are adorned with images from Melbourne’s coat of arms.

Upcoming projects include restoring brass plaques at the war memorial atop Mount Macedon.

James aspires to work on the Sydney Opera House, which, he says, has “kilometres of brass rails”.

James and Martini in front of Clover restaurant in Richmond, where they restored copper in the facade.

Two weeks ago, James was MC at Martini’s wedding. Martini says the career change has been “unbelievable” and “one of the best things that has ever happened to me”.

The job takes patience and can be tedious, but is rewarding, Martini says.

“People stop and say, ‘Wow. Look at that, look at the difference’. It makes you want to do it more.”