The Department of Lands building is late nineteenth century building in Bridge Street, Sydney

Bridge Street, Sydney

Bridge Street is a street in the CBD of Sydney, Australia. It runs east-west between George Street and Macquarie Street. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Sydney and the postcode is 2000. The street is 500 metres long...

, designed by 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...

. It is a large three storey public building which was built in different stages. This is the largest building designed by Barnet in Colonial Sydney

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...

. The building is listed on the Register of the National Estate

Register of the National Estate

The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...

, as well as having a NSW state listing. In addition to Barnet, Walter Liberty Vernon

Walter Liberty Vernon

Walter Liberty Vernon was an English architect who migrated to the state of New South Wales, Australia and pursued his career as an architect in Sydney...

 and William Edmund Kemp worked on the design of the building. The builder was John Young

John Young

-Sports:* John Young , American baseball first baseman* John Young , English cricketer* John Young , English cricketer* John Young , soccer player...

, who designed St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to "Mary, Help of Christians", Patron of Australia...

.

Significance of its location

The positioning of this building on Bridge Street is vital. At that time when this was built, Bridge Street and surrounding areas would not have been filled with present day tall structures. Therefore the visibility of this building and its clock tower from the harbour would uplift this building’s status as an administration office.

Composition and style

Barnet, who favoured Classical styles in his public building projects, designed the Lands Department in Renaissance Revival Style. It was built from 1877-90. Dressed Pyrmont sandstone is the dominant material of the facades, with a dome and tower tops made from copper. The four facades of the building are all richly decorated with classical motifs and statuettes and are dissimilar to each other. Barnet’s mix of the orders and their integration into the building is significant. For example, lowest level of the building is adorned with Doric and Ionic pilasters, whereas Corinthian and Ionic ones are used above. The clock tower has an “onion-dome” which, according to Haskell, was influenced by Sir Henry Parkes’s water carafe.

Main entrance on Bridge Street in relation to other entrances

The main entrance for this building is on Bridge Street. The basement on the Gresham Street side has two entrances as well, one of which was previously used for carriages. Compared to the huge scale of the structure, the main entrance on Bridge Street seems relatively restrained. One might expect a grand entrance in a building of such significance, but Barnet seems to have scaled it down. For an adult standing next to the door, its decorated top is at a comfortable height above the head. This fact makes the Lands Department building seem more practical and public-oriented rather than colossal.