Sydney Art Deco Heritage

The Tea Gardens Hotel is located at 2-4 Bronte Road, Bondi Junction. The original licence for a hotel on this site was issued in 1854. It was known as the Waverley Tea Gardens and was popular destination with day visitors when the trams first arrived in 1881. The site was subdivided in 1874 and a second storey added. The building was remodelled in about 1940 to reflect the Art Deco style popular at the time. Today the upstairs function area, Circa, has a sun-drenched deck built over the front awning which destroys the look of the hotel. The main room off the deck still retains many of its original art deco features. Hotel corner facade Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

The Blues Point Hotel at 116 Blues Point Road, Milson's Point, was previously known as the North Shore Hotel and a direct successor to the hotel tradition on this site. It is an excellent example of interwar Functionalist Style. The ground floor tiling is of notable quality on the curved surfaces of the outside walls of the building. Nice tiling on walls Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

The Kauri Foreshore Hotel is located at 2 Bridge Street, Glebe. Originally there was a two storey hotel known as the Grand Hotel on the site. The name was changed in 1905 to the Kauri Hotel which may well have been a reflection of the timber handling activities which dominated the area. The hotel was aquired by Tooth and company around 1929 and was rebuilt in 1939 to plans prepared by John M Hellyer and provides an example of the interwar Functionalist Style tempered with the popular Art Deco Style of the time. Known as "A country pub in the city" the hotel has supported live music in one form or another for many years. Facade detail Sources: Sydney Council Heritage Database

Constructed in 1940 to a design by Herbert, Wilson & Pynor the former Paramount Picture Studios building at 53-55 Brisbane Street, Surry Hills, is one of few surviving buildings recording the boom in cinema development in the 1930s and its growing importance for mass entertainment and information. The choice of site records the importance of this area of the city as an early focus for the film industry especially with the former 20th Century Fox building next door and the Hotel Hollywood just down the road. It is significant for the use of glazed terracotta tiles in a low scale building. Corner of the building Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Snow's building is located within the Pitt Street streetscape at 360 Pitt Street in Sydney and is unusual for its grey and red terracotta faience tiled facade. The facade is six stories high with a mezzanine above the awning. Snow's building was originally built for Peter Mathieson, a former tobacco merchant who had traded on the site since 1898. The building was destroyed by fire in 1916 and it wasn't until 1934 that Mathieson got a new design by the noted architectural partnership of Ross and Rowe. Building work did not commence until 1937 and the building was not completed until June 1938. In September 1938 Peter Mathieson leased 358-360 to Sydney Snow Ltd and in April 1954 his heirs sold the property to Snow Properties Ltd and it became known as Snow's building. In February 1966 the property was leased to G J Coles & Co Ltd and is now known as the Coles Fossey building. Facade detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Although a long way from Sydney I thought I would include this building in China. The Bank of China building in Shanghai in the French Concession area is a great example of Art Deco styling adapted for use on a modern building. The imaginative blending of modern glass and building materials with classic Art Deco styling has been achieved with great success. The soaring vertical lines give the building a monumental feel while the detail in the facade and lamps is straight out of the 1930s. Facade detail More facade detail The light fixtures are wonderful examples of modern interpretations of style of the 1930's.

The Telford Trust building at 261 George Street in the Sydney CBD is also known as Feltex House and Interocean House. It was built in 1939 by Concrete Constructions Ltd and was designed by Adam, Wright & Apperly. Originally only three storeys the building was sympathetically extended to nine storeys in 1961 by Buchanan, Felton and Lovell. It is an outstanding example of InterWar Functionalist style and notable for its wide unbroken expanses of glass and horizontal spandrel panels curved at the street corner. Facade detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Dorchester House at 149 Macquarie Street in Sydney was designed in 1936 by Aaron Bolot. It is an elegant and slim building built on a tiny block. The entire frontage being only twenty two feet. Executed in red texture brick with keystones and bands of bricks in darker shades the eight storey building includes professional offices. On the upper floors were located one and two bedroom apartments. These would have been a nice city pad. Another view of the building Sources: Woollahra Heritage Inventory

The David Jones store at 65-77 Market Street in Sydney designed by Crawford Mackellar (in association with Bruce Partridge) and built by John Grant and Sons and opened in 1938. The building’s statement of significance describes it as “a fine interpretation of the functionalist design tradition, expressive of the department store use and well related to a strong townscape character at an important city corner." “Its materials, attractive proportions and subtlety of address to the corner site show an architectural style and sensitivity of a high order. The use of aluminium for window frames and street awning (both still extant) was innovative at the time.” The building is a good example of the Functionalist style. Castlereagh Street entrance In 1938, the opening of the David Jones store made a permanent change in the life of the city. But it did not emerge fully formed and it took over three decades for the store we see today to be completed. In particular, two storeys we

Charles Plaza at 58-68 King Street in the Sydney CBD is an outstanding example of Art Deco design. It stands as one of the earliest and most "pure" of Sydney's Art Deco skyscrapers. It is associated with a distinguished body of work by Hennessy, Hennessy & Co, who produced more office buildings in the 1930s than any other Sydney based company, particularly for the insurance industry (ACA, Colonial Mutual, Prudential). The 14 storey Inter-War Art Deco buidling was constructed in 1938 by Concrete Constructions Co for the Australasian Catholic Assurances Society Ltd. It was completed in 36 week! A central tower facing King street and stepped in upper floors impart a feeling of grandeur to the building. King Street entrance King Street foyer ceiling Interior Art Deco moulding Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Construction of the Australian Provincial Asssurance Building (APA Building) at 53-63 Martin Place in the Sydney CBD began in early June 1936 by Kell and Rigby builders following the calling of tenders in February the same year. The imaginative use of granite and terracotta on its facade creates an impressive presence in Martin Place. The building was designed by the architect David W. King who occupied a suite in the building for over thirty years and was largely responsible for ongoing maintenance and alterations to the building during this time. From 2004 to October 2021, the building most notably housed a Lindt chocolate café on the eastern side of the ground floor. The (now-closed) café came to international attention during the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, thus being commonly referred to as the Lindt café siege. Facade detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

This very handsome Art Deco bank building at 31 Hall Street in Bondi is, at the time of writing (2009) in the process of getting new tenants after the Commonwealth bank closed the branch. A comment from "bondi" says "The building is now (Aug 2012) a surf shop, SURFECTION. The facade has been changed somewhat, with the ground floor windows being widened to act as display windows. It's a relatively modest and sympathetic change, with the window frame divided where the building line used to be. The interior pays no heed to the original ceilings, but at least they remain intact. The job was supervised, I understand, by Sydney Heritage consultants Weir Philips." Main entrance View of the branch before it closed Sources: Commonwealth Bank Archives

The Commonwealth Bank Drummoyne branch was located at 204 Victoria Road in Drummoyne. In 1914, the Government Savings Bank engaged Mr W Schofield of Dalley Street, Sydney to demolish the old Fire Station that was originally on the site and to erect a new two storey brick building. The work was supervised by the Bank’s architects, Messrs H E Ross and Rowe. The Government Savings Bank merged with the Commonwealth Bank in December 1931 and in 1937 the branch interior was completely remodelled. The work was carried out by S J Campbell of Mortdale and was completed in October 1937. Banking operations were transferred to a new building in Drummoyne in March 1982 and the old branch was sold in July 1982 for $253,110.00. Facade detail The branch in 1937 Sources: Commonwealth Bank Archives

Located in Herd Street, Wellington, on the waterfront next to Waitangi Park, Chaffers Dock (the former Post and Telegraph building) is a majestic example of Art Deco architecture. The original building was designed by the architect Edmund Anscombe and finished in 1939. Postal services finished in the late 1980's and the current Chaffers Dock building was redeveloped into a mix of apartments, restaurants and shops. The imposing Chaffers Dock corner facade has been retained however the unsympathetic treatment of the waterfront side of the building leaves much to be desired. Chaffer's Dock main facade Main corner entrance Imposing corner facade Sources: Chaffers Dock website

Located at 128-140 Broadway in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale Pioneer House is largely intact and is a good example of an Inter-war Art Deco commercial building designed by Wright and Apperly Architects circa 1939. It was constructed following resumptions and road widening in Broadway in the late 1930's as part of a group of buildings built at that time. It originally included a bank and six shops on the ground floor with warehouse space above. There was a caretakers flat on the top floor that would have had a nice outlook over Sydney for the lucky occupant! The building makes a strong contribution to the Broadway Streetscape. One of the nice aspects of Pioneer house is the brick detailing along the top of the front facade. The design is arranged symetrically about the axis of the prominant vertical triangular windows which combine to give a stately and monumental feel to the building without being garish. More classic Art Deco touches can be found at ground level along the

ACI House is located at 52-58 William Street in Woolloomooloo and is also known as Peejays House, Australian Consolidated Industries and Hoskins Block. Designed by the prominent archtectural practice of Stephenson and Turner with Arthur Baldwinson for the Head Office and showrooms for the glass manufacturers, Australian Consolidated Industries. It is a fine example of an Inter-war Fuctionalists style commercial building. The building is listed in the RAIA Registry of Significant 20th Century Buildings and was completed in 1941. Facade detail It has eight storeys clad in burgundy glass mosaic tiles with long horizontal glass block sections on each floor. The curved corner is also built from *insulux* glass blocks spanning up all six floors which serve to reduce acoustic input and retain solar heat. The building is crowned by a floating concrete cornice perforated by large circular cutouts. The use of glass in the construction is carried on into the foyer area as well. Here

Located on the corner of Walker Street at 305 Cleveland St, Redfern, the Norfolk Hotel is a quaint Art Deco style hotel with a prominant facade. It was purchased by Tooths & Co in the 1930's and plans were submitted to Council in 1939 for alterations designed by Sidney Warden to modernise the building. The main feature was the extension of the street awning up Walker street and removing the gabled tiled roof. The ground floor walls were tiled following the fashion of the day and the first floor exterior walls were painted instead of the more popular raw brick. Today the tiles are gone and the whole hotel has been painted over to *improve* and *modernise* its appearance. At the time of writing blue neon tubes highlighted the hotel's Art Deco lines in the evening. Nice. Similar treatment was given to the St George Tavern in Rockdale. Up to 2007 it had already undergone major renovations inside leaving little of the original decor remaining. It still posseses some charm a

The Dental Hospital at 2-28 Chalmers St, Surry Hills, is one of the best examples of the interwar Functionalist style in Sydney CBD with strip windows in surrounds and strong horizontal lines demonstrating key characteristics of the style. With an illuminated tower of glass and long bands of windows that emphasised its striking wedge shape, the Dental Hospital of Sydney drew international attention for its world-class design and oral hygiene services. The original Dental Hospital on this site was built in 1910. By the early 1930s the building could no longer cope with the demands of the public and the requirements of the advancing dental profession. The new building, completed in 1940, one of the first to be partially paid for by a grant from the State Lottery, secured Sydney's place as a world leader in dental hygiene services. The new Dental Hospital was designed by distinguished architecture firm Stephenson & Turner (formerly Stephenson & Meldrum) that served the du

The first Petersham Town Hall was built on this site at 105 Crystal Street in Petersham in 1882. In 1937 a plan for a new town hall, prepared by architects Rudder & Grout, was accepted and the old hall demolished. The new building was opened in July, 1938. Much of the interior has been retained and the hall itself has some nice detailing. The building is listed in the RAIA Register of significant 20th century buildings. The hall had a brush with fame when some of the flamboyant dancing scenes from director Baz Lurhmann's 1992 film "Strictly Ballroom" were filmed in its main auditorium. The Clock Tower detail The imposing Art Deco interpretation of a classic Greek temple entrance The auditorium above left and detail of the ceiling lights Sources: Sydney Heritage Listing Marrickville Council website