Sydney Art Deco Heritage

Originally called the Westminster Hotel, Sutherlands Hotel has been known over the years as Guys and Dolls Hotel and Bar Broadway. Situated at 2-6 Broadway Chippendale, it has one of the few corner hotel ceramic tiled interiors to be retained largely intact in Sydney. The Sutherlands Hotel is a fine example of an interwar Functionalist style building and is one of five hotels built in this style in the Sydney CBD. The others are the Clare Inn, the Australian Hotel, the Hotel Hollywood and the Civic Hotel. The hotel was put up for sale in 2022 with an expected price tag of $45 million. The original Westminter hotel building in 1930. This is the hotel just after being built in 1940. It is also significant by its association with the well known architectural firm of Rudder and Grout and the brewers Tooth and Company. The builder was Elvy &Co and it was completed on 13th May 1940. The Westminster public bar. The public bar is significant as a rare and fine example of

Also known as the Keg Room Tavern, County Clare Hotel, the Hotel Clare and Clare Hotel. The hotel, situated at 20-24 Broadway Chippendale, was originally called Ryan's Hotel until 17th March 1941 when the sign was changed to The Old Clare Hotel. On 25th July 1966 the name was changed to County Clare Inn. It was designed by Sidney Warden and built by S.D.C.Kennedy and Bird Pty. Ltd. The County Clare Inn is one of five similar inner hotels that were built around the same time. These are the Sutherlands, the Hotel Hollywood, the Civic and the Australian Hotel. The green terracotta tiles The green terracotta detailing on the facade is particularly beautiful and is a distinctive feature of the hotel facade. Here is a picture of the main bar The Art Deco style interior ceilings and timber panelling to the ground floor have significance as a fine example of the interior detailing of this style of corner hotel. Ceiling detail above the main bar area. Picture of

Also know as the Abercrombe hotel the Australian Hotel, situated at 100-102 Broadway in Chippendale, was constructed in 1938 and is situated on the southern extremity of the Carlton (Tooths) Brewery site. It has aesthetic significance as part of a group of five brick hotels constructed in the Sydney CBD in the interwar Functionalist style. They are the Clare Inn, Sutherlands hotel, the Hotel Hollywood and the Civic hotel. The Australian Hotel building features face brickwork, vertical elements and a curving facade with deeply recessed balconies, all of which are identifiers of the style. The Australian Hotel was one of three hotels built in close proximity to the Carlton (Tooths) Brewery, the others being the Clare Inn and Sutherlands. The architects were Copeman, Lemont and Keesing the builder was H.W. Thompson. The original tiles are still on the building and are in good condition as shown in the photo. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Originally known as the Albion Hotel the Hotel Broadway, situated at 166-170 Broadway, was constructed in 1936. It is a good and relatively intact example of an interwar Functionalist style hotel building, designed by architect Sidney Warden. Warden designed the vast majority of the Art Deco hotels located in Sydney. A pub crawl of Warden's hotels would be a very long and exhausting exercise! The Albion hotel in 1930 Before the 1936 renovation by Tooth & Co. The Hotel Broadway just after renovation The hotel in 1937 with additional signage on the awning Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings Historical photographs from ANU Tooths & Co Yellow Card Collection

This example of the interwar style Art Deco bank buildings built by the Commonwealth Bank is located in Croydon at 6 The Strand. According the the owner of the grocery shop next door the bank finished operations in the building over 10 years ago and the building is currently a video store. The Commonwealth Bank building boasts a nice Art Deco relief above the front door however the rest of the building has been painted unsympathetically to the style. Art Deco relief above front door Sources: Commonwealth Bank Archive Department

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