Sydney Art Deco Heritage

A stroll down Nerang Street in Southport reveals several beautiful Art Deco buildings. As one of the oldest suburbs on the Gold Coast in Queensland Southport has several excellent examples of Art Deco architecture. Continue down Nerang Street from the Town Hall and you will discover the Cecil B DeMilles Hotel on the corner of Scarborough Street. With its long open verandahs above the awnings and the imposing round Art Deco facade it occupies the corner site like a grand old Hollywood starlet. It is the oldest public house on the Gold Coast to maintain its original name throughout all its years of operation The new hotel replaced an ealier structure on the site and was designed by Addison and MacDonald. It opened in 1938. The exterior of the building included brown and cream tiles with Venetian red bricks cut through with cream bands. The roofing tiles were multi-coloured Marseilles tiles. The interior decoration of the hotel was in red, green and autumnal tones and featured poli

The former Hahn Automotive Services at 117-117A Cleveland Street in Darlington is a rare example of an interwar Art Deco style service station that dates from the key period for the development of service stations in NSW from 1925 to 1939. Plans for the existing building were submitted to council 10/9/37. The building was built on the site in 1939 as a service station and was designed by DT Morrow & Gordon architects of 129 Pitt Street Sydney for Messrs Chippendale Estates Ltd. It has continued being a service station to this day. Sources: Sydney of Sydney Archives and History Resources

The building at 686 Botany Road (Cnr Gardiners Road) in Mascot was originally a Commercial Banking Company of Sydney branch. It is another example of a 1930s interwar period Art Deco suburban bank building. It is listed in the 1934 book "A Century of Banking - the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, 1834-1934". The CBC merged with the National Bank in 1981 to form the National Australia Bank. The building was sold in 1988 for $676000.00. It is now home to "Simplicity Funerals". Facade detail Sources: Botany Bay Heritage Listings CBC Bank Archives Sydney Morning Herald - 29/11/88 pp38

The Commonwealth Bank Gladesville was located at 219 Victoria Road in Gladesville. The original Government Savings Bank building was built by Alexander Simpson and Sons under the architectural supervision of Messrs Ross and Rowe in 1920. The GSB merged with the Commonwealth Bank in 1931 and operated from the existing GSB building. The bank sold the building in 1989 but continues to operate from the site. Facade detail The new facade of 1937 In 1937 extensive alterations were carried out by Hogden Bros which included this new facade. The 1992 awning addition An awning was added in the early 1990s to accommodate additional services which severely compromised the look of the Art Deco facade. Sources: Commonwealth Bank Archives Department

Originally known as Freeman's Garage, Abrahams service station is a fine example of the interwar period Functionalist-Art Deco style of architecture located at 46-48 Parramatta Road, Summer Hill. Frank Freeman, a motor engineer, submitted a Building Application at the end of 1938 for the erection of a Garage and Flat with an estimated value of £3,000. The building was designed by Crick & Furse architects who were prominent Sydney architects who specialised in cinema design as well as industrial and domestic work. Facade detail "The building is set back from Parramatta Road behind a projecting awning, having a semicircular fascia and a pair of supporting stanchions. The concrete ground floor contains large workshop areas accessible from both Parramatta Road and Sloane Street, a sales room, an office and toilets. Steel framing supports the timber upper floor, which is an ample two-bedroom unit, originally accessed by stairs from Sloane Street. The characteristic ele

The former Insurance House located at 263 George Street in the Sydney CBD is a four story building that was built in the 1900's and extensively refurbished in 1981. It was an old GIO insurance site and now offers boutique style accommodation and office space rental. It is currently the Facial Rejuvination Clinic. The building was put up for sale in 2022 with an expected price of over $50 million. It is one of the Sydney CBD’s last remaining underdeveloped boutique retail and commercial trophy assets, which could make way for a 17-level tower. The permissible development for the site is for a 17-level standalone retail and office building with 4,382 sqm of gross floor area. An artists impression of the permissbale development is shown in the photo. It appears this old buildings days are numbered. Sources: Sydney Council Database Australian Property Journal May 18, 2022

Railway House at 19-31 York Street in the Sydney CBD is now known as Transport House. The 12 storey building was completed in 1936 and was designed by H. E. Budden & Mackey in the interwar Art Deco style. The scale and architectural quality of the building is a reflection of the importance of the Railway system to Sydney and NSW at that time. It was considered one of the most modern buildings in the city with cutting edge design features including air conditioning and escalators down to Wynyard station. The building displays an extensive use of green glazed terracotta tiles to the facade. Facade detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

The nine storey building at 44 Bridge Street in the Sydney CBD is known as Booth House and was constructed in 1937-38. It is an intact example of the interwar Functionalist style office building designed by Brewster and Manderson. It is one of only a few such office buildings in Sydney's CBD. Named Booth House after the owners Frederick H. Booth & Sons, it housed several offices and wool brokers. The interior has been substantially altered largely due to the conversion of former office spaces. Restaurants were introduced to the basement and ground floor in 1975 and 1977. Facade detail The imaginative use of colour and materials on the facade are a stand out on the building. The use of sandstone, red granite, salmon coloured brickwork, green faced mullions and steel windows in browns and greens all combine to create an harmonius whole. View from Young Street The horizontal bands of windows around the building on each floor provide continuous natural light. S

Kyle House is located at 27-31 Macquarie Place in the Sydney CBD. The McArthur Shipping and Agency Co Ltd commissioned the innovative young architect C. Bruce Dellit to design a new building for the site in 1931. The interwar style Art Deco Kyle House opened towards the end of 1931. The building was constructed by Stuart Bros. One of the prominant features of Dellit's design is the impressive granite entrance portal and stairways. The central clock between the the two stairways under the porch arch is also a novel feature. Main entrance Facade detail Top of the building Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Located at 16-18 O'Connell Street in the Sydney CBD AFT House was previously known as Delfin House and the Bank of NSW House. The building was originally a banking chamber with offices above and it exemplifies the Art Deco style. Built in 1940 and designed by architect C Bruce Dellit it is one of Australia's finest examples of the Art Deco office building. The ceiling in the right hand side foyer contains Dellit's signature design element stepped pyramids. These features can also be seen in the chapel in Kinsella's funeral parlour at Taylor Square and also the ANZAC War memorial in Hyde Park. The imposing pink granite entrance archway Facade detail under archway Right hand entrance foyer ceiling light. Relief sculptures on doors Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Also known as Swaab House and Manufacturer's House it is located at 12-14 O'Connell Street in the Sydney CBD. A nine storey building built for the NSW Chamber of Manufacturers in 1935 in a modest interwar Art Deco Style. The architect was S H Buchanan Cowper. Manufacturers Mutual Insurance was founded in May 1914 with its name as “The Manufacturers Mutual Accident Insurance Association limited”. At the time of its origin, it primarily concentrated on the workers compensation market. In 1920 the company was renamed as "Manufacturers Mutual Insurance limited" with the abbreviation as “MMI”. In July 2000 MMI changed its name to Allianz Australia. Entrance to Manufacturers Mutual Entrance to Manufacturers Mutual detail Being a very large red brick building the attractive Art Deco entrance portal uses pink granite to good effect. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Elizabeth House located at 230 Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills is currently a residential strata plan registered in 1998. Known as Elizabeth House it is listed in the RAIA register of 20th century buildings of significance. The building was designed by the prominent Australian architect Emil Sodersten it was built in 1939. Sydney Council records show that the owner was listed as City Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd. They owned it until to at least 1975. Another view of the building To accommodate an uninterupted visual flow of each floor around the building the structural pillars were set back from the external wall alignment. The windows were supported by cantilevers from the support structure. Sources: Sydney Council Records