Sydney Art Deco Heritage

The Imperial Hotel, located at 35 Erskineville Road in Erskineville was purchased by Tooth and company in February 1931. It was rebuilt to a design by V D Renshaw and completed in November 1940. Renshaw had changed his name from Virgil D Cizzio. He designed the Great Southern Hotel on George Street in the same year. His rebuilding extended the Hotel across the whole of the site and demolished the previous structures. The Hotel became widely known when it was featured in the successful film "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" (1995) and is well known as a gay cabaret and entertainment venue. The interiors retain some of their Art Deco flavour, particularly to the rear cabaret room and upper stairs. Not much of the interior detail has been altered. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

This site at 102 Erskineville Road, Erskineville, has been occupied by a hotel since at least 1882. The current Erskinevile Hotel is a good representative example of an Interwar Art Deco style hotel and was designed by the architects Copeman Lemont & Keesing in 1940. The architects Copeman, Lemont and Keesing designed several other Inter War hotels in Sydney including the Kurrajong hotel down the road, the Alfred hotel in Camperdown, the Australian and Criterion hotels. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings

Tucked away on 2 Foster Street in Surry Hills, just off Elizabeth Street, the Hotel Hollywood is a hidden gem in the city fringe. Originally known as the Nevada Hotel it had its name changed in October 1941 to The Hotel Hollywood. It was designed by architect John M Hellyer and built by W.M. Hughes and Co. P/L. When completed in 1940 the hotel formed part of the 'cinema' enclave with the film distribution offices of 20th Century Fox and Paramount nearby. There have been no significant recorded changes to the building after its construction. Detail of the facade The Hotel Hollywood is one of five similar style hotels built in the southern precinct of the city within a short period between 1938 and 1942. The others are the Australian, the Clare Inn, Sutherlands and the Civic. The Hotel Hollywood is the only one to have survived intact without recorded alterations or modifications of any kind either externally or internally. Sources: Sydney Heritage Listings