Sydney Art Deco Heritage

This building at 43-51 Brisbane Street, Surry Hills, was the former 20th Century Fox Film Corporation Building and reflected the growing importance of cinema for mass entertainment and information in the 1930s. It was designed in 1939 by T W Hodgson & Sons and was constructed by Robert Wall & Sons for the Fox Film Corporation. The choice of this site records the importance of this area of the city as an early focus for the film industry. It is representative of the functionalist tradition, stripped down to the essentials of form and materials, which emerged as a powerful influence in architectural practice in the 1930s. Interest is added by the Art Deco elaboration of the entry. It is significant as an example of the use of glazed terracotta tiles in low scale building. The significance of the building is enhanced by its proximity to other extant film industry related buildings such as the Paramount Studios building next door and the Hollywood Hotel. Detail at rear o...

The Sydney Water building at 339-341 Pitt Street in the Sydney CBD was built by Howie Moffat & Co to a design by Budden and Mackey in 1939. The building exhibits elaborate use of various coloured granite and marble finishes. Architectural terracotta tiles and bands of bronze and copper elements plus the associated bronze windows and curved fenestration to the corner make this building one of the most exquisite examples of the Art Deco style and detail in Sydney, if not Australia. Bas relief panels, sculpted by Stanley Hammond, are strategically placed above the entrance in Pitt Street which depict the water industry and its progression of technology. Detail of the facade Relief sculpture detail More facade detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

The Mutual Life & Citizens building located at 38-46 Martin Place in the Sydney CBD is now known as the Henry David York building. It was also known as the Minter Ellison building. The Mutual Life & Citizens building is aesthetically significant as one of the best Inter-War commercial office buildings in Sydney. It is also the best example in Australia of the exterior use of Egyptian-derived motifs in such buildings. The building was designed by Bates Smart & McCutcheon and built from 1936 - 1938. MLC tower detail THe tower has sculptures with ancient Egyptian motifs and influences and were designed by A & K Henderson. Main entrance The carved relief panel above the front entrance proclaims "UNION IS STRENGTH". A thought provoking image. Foyer area Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

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