Architecture of Sydney
The architecture of Sydney, Australia’s oldest city, is not characterised by any one architectural style, but by an extensive juxtaposition of old and new architecture over the city's 200-year history, from its modest beginnings with local materials and lack of international funding to its present-day modernity with an expansive skyline of high rises and skyscrapers, dotted at street level with remnants of a Victorian era of prosperity.
Under the tenure of early nineteenth-century
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 Modern high rise buildings – according to Singh d'Arcy, in The Apartment House (2017), "From the 1950s onwards, many of Sydney's handsome sandstone and masonry buildings were wiped away by architects and developers who built brown concrete monstrosities in their place. The 1980s saw uncomfortable pastiches of facades with no coherence and little artistic merit".[1] Despite this, Sydney is still home to Australia’s oldest public building, Old Government House, located in Parramatta.
Sydney's notable new buildings were designed by the Austrian-Australian architect
1788–1820s: The new colony's restrained Georgian style
The British established a colony in
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 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.[2] 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.[2]
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
1830s–1850s: eclectic neo-Gothic
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
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
By 1880, two-thirds of the population had been born in Australia and a growing nationalism viewed the country as paradise compared to the
Inter and Post World War
The Great Depression and World War II created a severe housing shortage for Australia in the late 1940s.[citation needed] 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%.[5] 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.[5]
buildings he built in Sydney between 1948 and 1952. The house was a revelation to conservative 1950s Sydney.[6]
In contrast to Seidler's strongly European flavour of Modernism was the softer form practised by the so-called Sydney School of the 1950s and 1960s. This loose collection of architects, comprising, among others, Bill Lucas, Bruce Rickard, Neville Gruzman and Ken Woolley, favoured organic and natural houses, often built on steep slopes and hidden from view in natural bushland. These projects were largely on the city's North Shore, and to a lesser extent in the Eastern Suburbs. 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.[7]
In the
Opened in 1973, the
Sydney is home to Australia's first building by renowned Canadian architect
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One Central Park
Heritage laws: poor attitudes to historic buildings throughout the 1970s to the 2000s
Sydney lost most of its notable inter-war cinemas between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s, including the Winter Garden at Rose Bay, the Odeon at Manly and most disgracefully of all The Regent in George Street, where the property developer had purchased the structure cheaply, only to pull it down. Whole classes of buildings remained under threat.
—Peter Spearritt, 2016[14]
Historic preservation exists in Sydney and is overseen by the
Another example of a recent demolition of a Sydney building was the loss of the head office of the Rural Bank at 52
Another controversial demolition of a prominent Sydney building was
...[Sydney]'s older architecture had seen little investment, or [the buildings] were being allowed to disintegrate until their destruction.
— Sydney, Delia Falconer[18]
Notable lost buildings
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Hotel Metropole
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Commercial Travellers Club
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The Colonial Mutual Association Building in Sydney, corner of George andWynyardStreets, circa 1900s.
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Henry Bull & Co. Building
Prominent styles
Gothic Revival
- Government House, Bennelong Point
- St Philip's Church, 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
Neoclassical
- Customs House, Alfred Street, Circular Quay
- General Post Office, Martin Place
- Department of Lands Building, Bridge Street[citation needed]
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Domain
- State 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
- Société Générale House, 348 George Street (originally the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America)
- Burns Philp Building, Bridge Street
- St Andrew's Church, 56 Raglan Street, Manly
- Greystanes
Italianate
- Central Police Court, Liverpool Street
- Former New South Wales Club, 31 Bligh Street
- Chief Secretary's Building, Bridge Street
- Holyrood (facade), Santa Sabina College, The Boulevarde, Strathfield
- Rockwall, Macleay Street, Potts Point
- 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
- Bankstown Reservoir, 300 Hume Highway, Bankstown
Second Empire
- Sydney Town Hall, George Street
- Downing Centre (former Mark Foy building), Liverpool Street
Queen Anne
- Westmaling, Penshurst Avenue, Penshurst
- Caerleon, Bellevue Hill
- Homes, Appian Way, Burwood
Skyscrapers
With 146 high-rise buildings over 90m, Sydney has the
Tallest buildings
- Crown Sydney 271m
- Citigroup Centre 243m
- Chifley Tower 241m
- Deutsche Bank Place 240m
- Meriton World Tower 230m
- MLC Centre 228m
- Governor Phillip Tower 227m
- Ernst and Young Tower 222m
- RBS Tower 219m
- ANZ Tower 195m
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International Towers
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One Sydney Harbour under construction in December 2022
Bridges
There are 23 major bridges within Sydney. There are no significant
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Anzac Bridge from Rozelle
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A full view ofIron Cove Bay on the Parramatta River
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Tom Uglys Bridge, crossing Georges River
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Ryde Bridge from Meadowbank
Residential architecture
Of the more than sixty Australian residential architectural styles that developed in Sydney over the years, more than half were used in residential architecture. Prominent residential styles included:
Old Colonial Period
- Georgian
- Regency
- Grecian
Victorian Period
- Free Classical
- Filigree (featuring wrought iron balconies)
- Italianate
- Gothic
- Queenslander
- Tudor
Federation Period
- Free Classical
- Filigree (featuring woodwork instead of wrought iron)
- Queen Anne (the dominant residential style between 1890 and 1910)[25]
- Bungalow(featuring prominent verandah)
- Arts and Crafts (including Shingle style)
Inter-War Period
- Georgian Revival
- Free Classical
- Mediterranean
- Spanish Mission
- Gothic
- Old English
- California Bungalow
Post-War Period
- International
- American Colonial
Late Twentieth Century Period
- Organic
- Sydney regional
- Tropical
- Late Modern
- Australian Nostalgic
- Immigrant Nostalgic
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Many of Sydney's terraces have been subjected to gentrification, such as these in Kirribilli.
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Terraces are common and widespread in older suburbs, such as these Filigree style terraces in Glebe
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An Italianate home in Randwick, New South Wales
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Merrivale, a home in the Regency style, Pymble
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Two-storey Bungalow, Cremorne
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Caerleon, Bellevue Hill, New South Wales, the first Federation Queen Anne home in Australia
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Pibrac, a home in theShingle style, Warrawee (designed by John Horbury Hunt)
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Horbury Terrace apartments in Georgian style, Macquarie Street
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Cottage inArts and Crafts style, Bondi Junction
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Fernlea, a Federation Bungalow, Wahroonga, New South Wales
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Contemporary home, Mosman
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TheModernist/Internationalist style building in Sydney. It is now open to the public as a museum.
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Old English house common within Killara
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Tudor Revivalhouse in Killara
See also
- List of heritage houses in Sydney
- List of Art Deco buildings in Sydney
- Australian non-residential architectural styles
- Terraced houses in Australia
- Architecture of Melbourne
References
- ISBN 978-0-500-50104-7.
- ^ ISBN 0-7946-0334-3.
- ^ Barnet, James (29 July 1899). "Architectural Work in Sydney New South Wales 1788-1899" (PDF). Journal R.I.B.A. VI (17): 503–518. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- .
- ^ ISBN 0-7946-0334-3.
- ISBN 0-7946-0334-3.
- ^ "So last century". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 April 2006.
- ^ House History Archived 16 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine; Sydney Opera House website Archived 2 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 2006-07-24)
- ^ Entry for Sydney Opera House; UNESCO World Heritage Centre (accessed 2006-07-24)
- ^ "Central Park Sydney". www.centralparksydney.com. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ^ "Frasers Property - Central Park, Sydney". www.frasersproperty.com.au. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ^ "Central Park receives its first three 5 Star Green Star ratings" (PDF). Fraser Property. 30 October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
- ^ "Central Park receives its first three 5 Star Green Star ratings". www.sekisuihouse.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-76029-362-8.
- Sydney Morning Herald. 6 August 2016.
- ^ "Age-old appeal: Why Sydneysiders are clamouring to buy heritage apartments". Domain. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "PS Spotlight: Exhibition projects insight into past of city's picture theatres". 1 September 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-921410-92-5.
- ^ The World's Best Skylines
- Daily Telegraph11 June 2014, p.6
- ^ "Widest Bridge". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ "Port Mann Bridge". TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT CORPORATION. British Columbia: Province of British Columbia. 2007. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
Once complete, the new 10-lane Port Mann Bridge will the second largest and longest cable-supported bridge in North America, and at 65 metres wide it will be the widest bridge in the world.
- ^ "Sydney Harbour Bridge". culture.gov.au. Australian Government. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
- ^ "HMS - ViewItem". www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Apperley (Angus and Robertson) 1994, p.132
External links
- Sydney Architecture Walks, architect-led tours of Sydney
- Archiseek.com: Sydney
- The City, Sydney walking tour by Sydney Architecture Walks
- Five Suburb Sydney Dérive - architectural bike tour by Sydney Architecture Walks
- Sydney City Architecture Walk by Australian Architecture Association
- Walk Through Time in Sydney City by Australian Architecture Association*A mapping of historic buildings in the inner city
- Gallery of Buildings in Sydney
- Gallery of Sydney Architecture
- Australian Architectural Styles
- The Skyscrapers of Sydney - A video guide to the Sydney skyline
- Dictionary of Sydney - Buildings
- Sydney Building Blog
- Trevor Hall Architects Sydney.