Buildings and architecture of Sydney
Encyclopedia
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
is not characterised by any one architectural style, having accumulated and developed over its 200 year history.
Under early nineteenth-century the tenure of Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
, the works of Francis Greenway
Francis Greenway
-References:* *...
were the first substantial buildings for the fledgling colony. Later prominent styles were the Victorian buildings of the city centre created out of local Hawkesbury sandstone, and the turn of the century Federation style in the new garden suburbs of the time. With the lifting of height restrictions in the post-World War II years, much of central Sydney's older stock of architecture was demolished to make way for modernist high rise buildings; a number of the most notable new buildings were designed by Harry Seidler
Harry Seidler
Harry Seidler, AC OBE was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauhaus in Australia.Harry Seidler designed more than 180 buildings and he...
.
1788-1820s: The new colony's restrained Georgian style
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
in January 1788 after the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
sailed 9 months from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
. The early years of the colony suffered from a sense of provisionality and the attitude of the majority of convicts and their guardians that they would return to Britain once they had "done their time." The colony was poorly equipped, had little food supplies, and did not understand the climate or soil. For its first two years it face starvation. In 1790, Governor Phillip began the process of freeing convicts and granting them land, such as that at Rose Hill
Rose Hill, New South Wales
Founded on the 2 November 1788, Rose Hill in New South Wales was the first inland colonial settlement, established by Governor Phillip. On the King's Birthday in 1791 it was renamed to become the town of Parramatta, after the indigenous Aborigines of the region, the Burramatta people, a clan of...
20 km inland which provided a stable food supply to the colony.
The British Government did not provide architects, builders to the new colony, or useful tools. Request for building tools were responded to tardily with more inappropriate tools, which was seen as a sign that the British Government was reluctant to invest money in a penal colony, even though the number of free settlers was increasing. Amateur builders took time to work out what local materials were suitable. Those significant buildings that were built were of such poor workmanship and materials that they needed constant maintenance. Lieutenant William Dawes
William Dawes
William Dawes, Jr. was one of several men and a woman who alerted colonial minutemen of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution....
produced a town plan for Sydney in 1790 but it was ignored in the under-resourced and often lawless society, and Sydney's layout still shows this lack of planning. The earliest significant buildings in Sydney were simple restrained Georgian buildings that were suited to the climate (often by virtue of deep verandahs), available materials and craftsmanship, and were based in a spirit of making do and improvisation.
Governor Macquarie's tenure began in 1810 and he promoted the idea of Sydney as a successful society of free citizens. He commissioned a survey of all aspects of the colony including its buildings which he found to be in a "most ruinous state of decay". He implemented a basic building code with certain minimum standards for new buildings and a requirement a plan be submitted for new buildings. He saw his role as one of nation-building with a responsibility to provide facilities that were functional and provided a sense of community pride. By the end of his tenure, Macquarie had overseen the construction of 92 brick buildings, 22 stone buildings, 52 weatherboard houses, four bridges, seven quays and moles, and over 200 miles of road. In 1814, Francis Greenway
Francis Greenway
-References:* *...
, a convict serving a fourteen year sentence for forgery, arrived in Sydney. Over a short period of time, a partnership between him and Macquarie saw the construction of fine public buildings that were classically inspired, restrained decoratively and well-portioned and included Hyde Park Barracks
Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
The Hyde Park Barracks is an internationally significant, impressive brick building and compound designed by convict architect Francis Greenway between 1818–19; originally built at the head of Macquarie Street to house convict men and boys....
, St James Church
St. James Church, Sydney
St James' Church is an Anglican church in King Street in Sydney, Australia. Consecrated on 11 February 1824, the church was designed by the transported convict architect Francis Greenway during the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie, and is part of the historical precinct of Macquarie Street...
and St Matthews at Windsor
Windsor, New South Wales
Windsor is a town in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Windsor is located in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It sits on the Hawkesbury River, on the north-western outskirts of the Sydney metropolitan area. At the 2006 census, Windsor had a population of...
. A 1819 commission of inquiry into the colony accused Macquarie of extravagance particularly in regard to construction and he was recalled to England. This effectively ended Greenway's career and little public construction was carried out until the late 1830s.
1830s to 1850s: eclectic neo-Gothic
Tank Stream
The Tank Stream is a fresh water course which empties into Sydney Cove in New South Wales, Australia. Today it is little more than a storm water drain, but originally it was the fresh water supply for the fledgling colony of New South Wales in the late 18th century...
, while lower ranks and commerce was consigned to the western side. By the 1830s this had become entrenched with fine homes on the Potts Point ridge. The derivative neo-Classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
style was being replaced with the more ornate and eclectic Gothic Revival. John Verge
John Verge
John Verge was an English architect, builder, pioneer settler of New South Wales, who migrated to Australia and pursued his career there. Verge was one of the earliest and the most important architect of the Greek Revival in Australia. He also brought more comprehensive range of Regency style than...
was the most renowned architect in the 1830s and his buildings included Tusculum in Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay House
Elizabeth Bay House
Elizabeth Bay House is a historic home in the suburb of Elizabeth Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built between 1835 and 1839, Elizabeth Bay House was known as 'the finest house in the colony'. Elizabeth Bay House is a home in the Regency style, originally surrounded by a garden, but...
, and Camden Park.
The 1840s saw an increasingly buoyant economy and confident society pushed along by the end of convict transportation and the commencement of an independent legislature. A building boom embraced the neo-Gothic style whereby the colony's strong need to identify with the home country was manifest. Public, commercial and domestic architecture overlooked the local climate in favour of styles transported from Britain, and projects with substantial budgets often produced an indiscriminate eclecticism. Conversely, projects with limited budgets that precluded ostentatious and derivative design often resulted a kind of vernacular style that responded to local conditions. Rather than a connecting device between rooms, the verandah became a sun-shading device, and solid sandstone walls and cross-ventilation stabilised both cold and hot temperature extremes.
1850s - Victorian architecture
Victorian aspirations for respectability, formality, and materialism were compounded in Sydney by colonial yearning for respect, which in architecture resulted in the copying of imported styles, mostly from Great Britain. New wealth and rapid increase in population came with the 1850s gold rush. A new middle class emerged who wanted homes, cities and public buildings that matched their new wealth and social status and construction of high quality buildings such as churches, commercial and public buildings, and ostentatious houses of the wealthy boomed. On the other hand, housing for the working and lower middle class remained substandard and the prevalence of unhygienic and slum conditions grew.In the 1860s, architecture in Sydney focussed more on style than consideration of the building's function in relation to its setting and climate. An increase in Italian immigrants influenced residential construction which manifest itself in a growing popularity of surface ornamentation, plasterwork, squared massing, arcades and loggias, and square towers. The simplicity of early colonial architecture was replaced by decorative facades using ornate cast iron with higher ceilings featuring elaborate mouldings.
Major new civic buildings included Edmund Blacket
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Thomas Blacket was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St...
's Main Quadrangle Building at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
completed in 1859. James Barnet
James Barnet
James Johnstone Barnet was the Colonial Architect for New South Wales from 1862 - 1890.-Life and career:Barnet was born at Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland. The son of a builder, he was educated at the local high school...
was Colonial Architect from 1862 and was Sydney's most prolific Victorian architect. His buildings included The Australian Museum (1864), Customs House
Customs House, Sydney
The Customs House is an historic Sydney landmark located in the city's Circular Quay area. Constructed initially in 1844-1845, the building served as the headquarters of the Customs Service until 1990. Ownership was then transferred from the Commonwealth Government of Australia to the City of...
(1884), the General Post Office
General Post Office (Sydney)
The General Post Office is a landmark building in Sydney, Australia. It is located at the western end of Martin Place , between George and Pitt Streets. The main facade stretches some 100 metres down Martin Place...
(1890), the Lands Department Building (1881 & 1893) and the Chief Secretary's Building (1878). He also was responsible for many suburban post offices, court houses and other civic buildings. Most of Sydney's public buildings from this time, including Barnet's, were built from local stone and were a variety of styles including Italianate, Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
, and neo-Classical with heavily worked façades. The early 1860s saw a renewed interest in the use of brick. Mass production of bricks commenced in the 1870s, although hand production continued until the end of the 19th century.
By 1880, two thirds of the population had been born in Australia and a growing nationalism viewed the country as paradise compared to the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
. With a booming economy, Australians sought to prove they could compete with the Old World.
Modern Sydney
North Shore (Sydney)
The North Shore is an informal term used to describe the primarily residential area of northern metropolitan Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The term usually refers to the suburbs located on the north shore of Sydney Harbour between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove River, up to...
, and to a lesser extent in the Eastern Suburbs
Eastern Suburbs (Sydney)
The Eastern Suburbs is a general term used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the east and south-east of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Suburbs can refer to the suburbs within the local government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, Dover...
. In the central business district, the lifting of height restrictions heralded the beginning of the city's change into a largely high-rise city.
The Great Depression and World War II created a severe housing shortage for Australia in the late 1940s. A shortage of materials and skilled labour compounded the shortages, as did restrictive bank lending practises whereby it was the norm for borrowers to put up a deposit of 50% of the value of a house. Building plots of around 115 square metres aggravated the problems further. These factors fed a building industry recession and the cost of building home in the decade following the war grew by 600%. In response, young architects who had worked in Europe and returned to Australia brought a simplicity to design and construction and renewed interest in logical structure and free planning. Verandahs and porches were less common on houses, and slightly pitched roofs replaced hipped roofs. Designs no longer featured non-functional ornamentation, ceilings were lower and rooms were expected to be multi-purpose. Vestibules were eliminated, hallways, and separate dining and living rooms were eliminated and the main entry was directly into the living room.
Harry Seidler was instrumental in the introduction of Internationalism
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
to Sydney. He studied under Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, worked with Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...
, and had been tutored by Josef Albers
Josef Albers
Josef Albers was a German-born American artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the 20th century....
at Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College, a school founded in 1933 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, was a new kind of college in the United States in which the study of art was seen to be central to a liberal arts education, and in which John Dewey's principles of education played a major role...
. The Rose Seidler House
Rose Seidler House
Rose Seidler House is a Bauhaus-styled home designed by Harry Seidler located at 71 Clissold Road, Wahroonga, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is managed by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales as a museum that has been open to the public since 1991. Built in 1949-1950, it...
, for his parents, was the first of 10 buildings he built in Sydney between 1948 and 1952. The house was a revelation to conservative to conservative 1950s Sydney.
Synonymous in the minds of many with Australian architecture is American architect Walter Burley Griffin (1876–1937) whose design for Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, the new national capital was selected in 1912. He thus made his mark on Australia and Australian architecture. Lake Burley Griffin
Lake Burley Griffin
Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River—which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle—was dammed...
, in Canberra, was named after him. During the Great Depression
Great Depression in Australia
Australia suffered badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia suffered years of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging incomes, and...
he designed incinerators that were built in the Sydney suburbs of Willoughby
Willoughby, New South Wales
Willoughby is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Willoughby is located 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby....
and Pyrmont
Pyrmont, New South Wales
Pyrmont is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pyrmont is located 2 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
. In 1919 he set up the Greater Sydney Development Association, which was concerned with developing new residential areas in bushland settings. The suburb of Castlecrag was a direct result of this venture, avoiding the traditional grid layout and attempting to blend in with the bush.
In contrast to Seidler's strongly European flavour of Modernism was the softer form of Modernism practised by the so-called Sydney School of the 1950s and 1960s. This loose collection of architects, comprising, among many, Bill Lucas, Bruce Rickard, Neville Gruzman
Neville Gruzman
Neville Gruzman, AM was an Australian architect, mayor of Woollahra, writer and architectural activist...
and Ken Woolley
Ken Woolley
Ken F. Woolley AM, B.Arch LAIA, is an influential Australian architect. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he is best known for his contributions to project housing with Pettit and Sevitt, the Wilkinson Award winning Woolley House in Mosman, and his longstanding partnership with Sydney...
, favoured organic and natural houses, often hidden from view by careful placement in natural bushland. Following on from Walter Burley Griffin's work in the Sydney suburb of Castlecrag, this style of Australian architecture was visually sensitive to the environment and, like Griffin, often utilised natural local materials as structural elements.
Another important architect who has influenced the Sydney scene is Glen Murcutt. Murcutt was born in 1936 and was responsible for founding the Australian Architecture Association
Australian Architecture Association
The Australian Architecture Association was set up in 2004 as a not for profit organisation to promote the understanding of both local and world architecture in Australia. The Chicago Architecture Foundation is used as the model for the development of the organisation.In late 2004, it began to...
. His philosophy was that a building should blend in with its environment. He has mostly designed residential buildings and his work is represented in several parts of Australia. His Sydney work includes the Laurie Short House, the Berowra Waters Inn, the Ball-Eastaway House, the Magney House, the Done House and the Schnaxl House.
Opened in 1973, the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, , AC was a Danish architect, most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon became only the second person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime...
. Its construction was partly financed by the Opera House Lottery. Utzon left in acrimonius circumstances before the building was finished; later work was completed by other architects. Located on Bennelong Point on Sydney Harbour, the building is a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
Prominent styles
Listed below are examples of prominent architectural styles in the Sydney Central Business district and the surrounding suburbs.Gothic revival
- Government House, Bennelong Point
- St Philip's ChurchSt Philip's Church, SydneySt Philip's Church, Sydney is the oldest Anglican church parish in Australia. The church is located in the Sydney CBD, between York Street, Clarence and Jamison Streets on a location known as Church Hill. St Philip's is part of the Diocese of Sydney, Australia...
, Clarence Street - Bishopscourt, Greenoaks Avenue, Darling Point
- The Abbey, Johnston Street, Annandale
- Gladeswood House, 11 Gladeswood Gardens, Double Bay
- St John's Church, Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst
Georgian
- Durham Hall, Albion Street, Surry Hills
- Cleveland House, Bedford Street, Surry Hills
- Waimea, Waimea Avenue, Woollahra
- Judge's House, 531 Kent Street
- Juniper Hall, Oxford Street and Ormond Street, Paddington
Classical
- Customs House, Alfred Street, Circular Quay
- General Post Office, Martin Place
- Lands Department, Bridge Street
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain
- Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street
- Australian Museum, College Street
- Darlinghurst Court House, Taylor Square
Romanesque
- Queen Victoria Building, George Street
- Church of St John, Bishopthorpe, St Johns Road, Glebe
- Societe Generale House, 348 George Street
- Burns Philp and Company building, Bridge Street
- St Andrew's Church, 56 Raglan Street, Manly
Italianate
- Central Police Court, Liverpool Street
- Former New South Wales Club, 31 Bligh Street
- Colonial Secretary's building, Bridge Street
- Holyrood (facade), Santa Sabina College, The Boulevarde, Strathfield
- Rockwall, Macleay Street, Potts Point
- Stead HouseStead HouseStead House, a grand Victorian Italianate residence located in Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney's Inner West, was initially established as “Waterloo Villa” sometime in the early 1850's by Archibald Mitchell on part of the 30 acre grant known as “Wain’s Farm”...
, Leicester Street, Marrickville
Federation/Edwardian
- Pyrmont Fire Station, Gipps Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road, Pyrmont
- YMCA, 325 Pitt Street
- Former ANZ Bank, 52 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
- Former hotel, 2-4 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo
- Hotel building, 225 George Street
- Commercial Building, 161 Sussex Street
- Post Office, King Street and Erskineville Road, Newtown
- Commercial building, 469 Oxford Street, Paddington
Second Empire
- Sydney Town Hall, George Street
- Downing Centre (former Mark Foy building), Liverpool Street
Queen Anne
- Westmaling, Penshurst Avenue, Penshurst
- Caerleon, Ginahgulla Road, Bellevue Hill
- Homes, Appian Way, Burwood
Skyscrapers
With 134 skyscrapers over 90m, Sydney has the largest skyline in Australia. Height restrictions were lifted in the 1950s and the AMP BuildingAMP Centre
AMP Centre is a Sydney skyscraper located at 50 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW Australia. It was built in 1976 and consists of 45 floors. It is used for commercial offices and made of concrete, glass and steel. The Centre's roof height is 188m, and it was the tallest building in Sydney until the MLC...
at Circular Quay became Australia's tallest building several years later. The late 1980s and early to mid 1990s saw a skyscraper boom in Sydney, but height restrictions limited future buildings to the height of 235 metres, in part due to the close proximity of Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport may refer to:* Sydney Airport, also known as Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney, Australia* Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada...
. The largest structure is Centrepoint Tower
Sydney Tower
Sydney Tower Eye is Sydney's tallest free-standing structure, and the second tallest in Australia...
standing at 309 metres, containing restaurants and observation decks. Although both the MLC Centre
MLC Centre
The MLC Centre is a skyscraper in Sydney, Australia. This office building is 228 metres high and has 60 storeys. Occupants include the Sydney Consulate of the United States of America. The podium of the building includes a shopping centre with several exclusive fashion labels and a 1,186 seat...
and World Tower
World Tower
World Tower is a skyscraper located at 91 Liverpool Street, Sydney, Australia. Construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2004. It was constructed by Meriton Apartments Pty Ltd, which is owned by developer Harry Triguboff. World Tower was the 2004 Bronze recipient of the Emporis Skyscraper...
are higher measured to roof at 228m and 230m respectively, the tallest conventional skyscraper measured to its spire tip is Chifley Tower
Chifley Tower
Chifley Tower is a skyscraper in Sydney, Australia. When measured to the top of its spire, it is considered the second-tallest building in Sydney....
, completed 1992.
See also
- List of heritage houses in Sydney
- List of Art Deco buildings in Sydney
- List of tallest buildings in Sydney
External links
- Sydney City Architecture Walk by Australian Architecture Association
- Walk Through Time in Sydney City by Australian Architecture Association
- SAW, architectural tours of downtown Sydney
- A mapping of historic buildings in the inner city
- Gallery of Buildings in Sydney
- Gallery of Sydney Architecture
- Australian Architectural Styles