Sydney Art Deco Heritage

Since 1911 the Commonwealth Bank Town Hall site at 546 George Street in Sydney was a retail outlet for furnishing retailer Morley Johnsons. An additional two floors were added to the building around 1938 and Art Deco syled fluting added to the facade. When Morley Johnsons closed their doors they sold the building to the Commonwealth Bank in 1964. The Commonwealth Bank has maintained a branch there ever since. Facade detail Before (circa 1930s) and after the remodelling of the facade (circa 1960s) Sources: Commonwealth Bank Archives

The QBE building at 80-82A Pitt Street in the Sydney CBD was previously known as Bryant House which was built for the City Mutual Life Assurance Association as an investment property. The building was designed by Emil Sodersten in association with T. W. Hodgson and Sons and was constructed by Hutcherson Bros in 1939. The building features an unusual serrated facade of textured face brick above a polished granite plinth with simple Art Deco mouldings. The original Art Deco detailing of the entry foyer and lift lobby remains intact. Facade detail Window detail The triangular windows with the inverted stepped pyramids is very similar to Pioneer House on Broadway. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Luna Park at 1 Olympic Drive in Milson's Point is one of Sydney Harbour's major landmarks and is a rare surviving example of an amusement park and fantasy architecture in the Art Deco idiom of the 1930s. The towers, more than any other feature of the park, epitomised the then fashionable Art Deco style of architecture, emphasised by the innovative and exciting lighting effects. The first entrance to Luna Park was constructed by Stuart Bros in 1935 to a design by Rupert Browne, based on his entrance to Melbourne's Luna Park at St Kilda. The original entrance and famous face were remodelled in 1939, 1947, 1953, 1960 and again in 1973. The twin towers have scalloped spires obviously influenced by the design of the Chrysler Building in New York, a masterpiece of Art Deco and the tallest building in the world when it was erected in 1930. Entrance tower detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Asbestos House at 65-69 York Street in the Sydney CBD was designed by Robertson and Marks in association with John Reid and Sons in 1927. It was planned in two parts; the first was completed in 1928-29, and the second in 1934-35 to a design by the same architects. The building was praised for its delicate colouring (external terracotta) and its harmonious design. Also known as James Hardy House, the building is listed in the RAIA Registry of Significant 20th Century Buildings. York Street entrance Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

The ANZAC War Memorial in Sydney's Hyde Park South is aesthetically significant as the finest work of architect C. Bruce Dellit and is one of the finest examples of interwar Stripped Classical and Art Deco styles in Australia. It is also an examplar of the work of the most renowned Australian sculptor of the time, Rayner Hoff. It was built by Kell & Rigby builders in 1933-1934. The stepped ziggaurat design on the roof is a signature of Dellit's work. This design is reflected in the ceiling of the chapel in Kinselas Hotel just up the road on Taylor square. Facade detail Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Listed in the RAIA Register of Significant 20th Century Buildings the Harbour Bridge at Milson's Point in Sydney was finished in 1932 and was designed by JJ Bradfield and Sir Ralph Freeman. The design of the impressive 89 metre high ziggaurat pylons, which are primarily decorative, was undertaken by the consulting architects, Sir John Burnet and Partners of London. Thomas Tait, the architect who carried out the work, produced a stripped classical treatment with strong Art Deco components. They are made of concrete, faced with granite, quarried near Moruya, where about 250 Australian, Scottish and Italian stonemasons and their families lived in a temporary settlement. Three ships were specifically built to carry the 18,000 cubic metres of cut, dressed and numbered granite blocks, 300km north to Sydney. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings