Sydney Art Deco Heritage

RM Williams House, located at 389 George Street in Sydney, was originally a three storey building built on a very narrow site in 1935. The brick building maked full use of the restrictions of the small corner site it occupied. At some time after 1953 it had a fourth storey sympathetically added to increase floorspace. There was a Penfolds wine restaurant there in the 1950s and the building is commonly known as RM Williams house. Detail of additional storey added in 1953. Sources: State Library Listings Sydney Council Heritage Database

Built in 1936, the City Mutual Life Assurance Building at 60-66 Hunter Street is one of the foremost examples of high quality and well-designed commercial Art Deco architecture in Sydney's CBD. It was the first private commercial building to be fully air-conditioned in Sydney. The serrated or zigzag window treatment to the street (also found on the Queensland Insurance Building in Pitt Street by Sodersten, 1940) allows much greater control of direct sunlight from one direction, while still allowing a view from the other. The impressive black marble entrance porch supports a base relief sculpture by Raynor Hoff called "The Flight from Vesuvius". Hoff had previously finished his tour-de-force at the ANZAC War Memorial in Hyde Park before this commission. The CML building represents the culmination of the work of one of Australia's foremost proponents of this style, Emil Sodersten. Main entrance porch "Flight from Vesuvius" detail Rokp

Since 1911 the Commonwealth Bank Town Hall site at 546 George Street in Sydney was a retail outlet for furnishing retailer Morley Johnsons. An additional two floors were added to the building around 1938 and Art Deco syled fluting added to the facade. When Morley Johnsons closed their doors they sold the building to the Commonwealth Bank in 1964. The Commonwealth Bank has maintained a branch there ever since. Facade detail Before (circa 1930s) and after the remodelling of the facade (circa 1960s) Sources: Commonwealth Bank Archives

The QBE building at 80-82A Pitt Street in the Sydney CBD was previously known as Bryant House which was built for the City Mutual Life Assurance Association as an investment property. The building was designed by Emil Sodersten in association with T. W. Hodgson and Sons and was constructed by Hutcherson Bros in 1939. The building features an unusual serrated facade of textured face brick above a polished granite plinth with simple Art Deco mouldings. The original Art Deco detailing of the entry foyer and lift lobby remains intact. Facade detail Window detail The triangular windows with the inverted stepped pyramids is very similar to Pioneer House on Broadway. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Luna Park at 1 Olympic Drive in Milson's Point is one of Sydney Harbour's major landmarks and is a rare surviving example of an amusement park and fantasy architecture in the Art Deco idiom of the 1930s. The towers, more than any other feature of the park, epitomised the then fashionable Art Deco style of architecture, emphasised by the innovative and exciting lighting effects. The first entrance to Luna Park was constructed by Stuart Bros in 1935 to a design by Rupert Browne, based on his entrance to Melbourne's Luna Park at St Kilda. The original entrance and famous face were remodelled in 1939, 1947, 1953, 1960 and again in 1973. The twin towers have scalloped spires obviously influenced by the design of the Chrysler Building in New York, a masterpiece of Art Deco and the tallest building in the world when it was erected in 1930. Entrance tower detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Asbestos House at 65-69 York Street in the Sydney CBD was designed by Robertson and Marks in association with John Reid and Sons in 1927. It was planned in two parts; the first was completed in 1928-29, and the second in 1934-35 to a design by the same architects. The building was praised for its delicate colouring (external terracotta) and its harmonious design. Also known as James Hardy House, the building is listed in the RAIA Registry of Significant 20th Century Buildings. York Street entrance Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

The ANZAC War Memorial in Sydney's Hyde Park South is aesthetically significant as the finest work of architect C. Bruce Dellit and is one of the finest examples of interwar Stripped Classical and Art Deco styles in Australia. It is also an examplar of the work of the most renowned Australian sculptor of the time, Rayner Hoff. It was built by Kell & Rigby builders in 1933-1934. The stepped ziggaurat design on the roof is a signature of Dellit's work. This design is reflected in the ceiling of the chapel in Kinselas Hotel just up the road on Taylor square. Facade detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings