The Criterion Hotel

The Criterion Hotel located at 258 Pitt Street, Sydney, was designed by Copeman, Lemont & Keesing and was constructed by Paynter and Dixon in 1936.

After the original Criterion Theatre was demolished in 1935 the license was sold to Tooth & Co who replaced and extended the building in 1936. It is the finest of the five remaining hotel buildings constructed in this style in the CBD. The others are the Criterion (Sussex Street), the Great Southern Hotel, the Tudor Inn, and the Wynyard.

The site has the historical significance of being the location of the Criterion Theatre which was demolished to make way to widen Park street in 1935. The picture opposite shows the partially demolished Criterion Theatre with the new hotel constructed behind it.

The Criterion Hotel is a three storey blond brick building constructed in the Inter-War Art Deco style. The highly articulated face brick facade features light green faience terracotta tile detailing at window heads and spandrel panels, raised panels, brick ribs, corbelling, balconettes, and three deeply recessed arches to the central pavilion of the Park Street facade.

The ground floor door and highlight assemblies are constructed of Queensland maple in a stepped profile and the front face of the mullions and transom rails are finished with chrome also in a stepped profile. The timber framed double hung windows each have a triple pane sash at the top. The windows set in the three recessed brick arches feature arched heads.

In the main ground floor bar original ceramic tiled walls and leadlight windows over the doors have been retained. The patterned leadlights are repeated in a panel running around the external walls of the bar above the awning. A concrete staircase with terrazzo treads and decorative inlaid terrazzo risers is located in the Pitt Street entrance. An internal stair at the extreme eastern end of the Pitt Street frontage leads down to the basement level and the well is lined with original tiles.

Historical views of the public bar and Saloon bar

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Sources:

• Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the ANU
• Chris&Steve on Flickr
• Sydney Heritage Listings
• State Library of NSW

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