8 of Sydney’s iconic buildings, illustrated
When it comes to Sydney’s famous attractions, most will point to the great Opera House. However, it is only one among a vast trove of modern architectural heritage that the city has to offer.
Strolling around Sydney is not an option right now, but there is another way to explore and appreciate the iconic sites in the NSW capital.
Budget Direct has launched a series of illustrated tributes to Sydney’s architectural landscape in collaboration with illustrator Luis Gómez Feliu and photographer Cauê Zanella. The ‘Pencil vs Camera’ compared the live buildings with their art counterparts – and the result could be seen here.
Queen Victoria Building
Start your tour of Sydney’s top buildings at the Queen Victoria Building, and you might not see much else! This cathedral-like market building covers an entire block on George Street and is home to nearly 200 fashion and interior stores and restaurants. The QVB was built in the 1890s, and its stained-glass windows, wrought-iron balustrades, and 20-metre glass and copper dome add a regal style seldom found elsewhere in the city.
Sirius Building
This Brutalist residential building is named after the brightest star in the sky. However, the block itself is bright in concept rather than aesthetics. Built from (apparently) piled concrete shoeboxes, the Sirius is a very retro, 1970s shade of dirty grey – but the shape and flow of the structure make it a real superstar building, which saved it from being demolished earlier this year.
NSW Conservatorium of Music
The Conservatorium of Music’s castle-like building looks like something out of a dream. Its backstory is almost as surreal. The architect, Francis Howard Greenway, came to Australia as a convict, having first been sentenced to death for forging financial documents. In 1817, he was commissioned to design new Government House stables and came up with this turreted façade in the Gothic Picturesque style. The English royal commissioner John Bigge condemned the structure’s “useless magnificence” but let work continue so as not to waste what had been done. On completion, Greenway’s building was considered to be the wrong proportions to be much use as a stable, and it went underused until architect R. Seymour Wells converted it in the early 20th century.
Government House
Government House is a Gothic Revival mansion set among eclectic Regency- and Italianate-style gardens. Like the former stables nearby, crenellated battlements and turrets give the building the look of a fortress, while a porte-cochère (coach gate) adds regal dignity at the entrance.
Sydney Mint
In the 1810s, NSW governor Lachlan Macquarie wanted to build an “elegant and commodious” hospital for convicts, but the British government refused to fund it. Instead, Macquarie cut a deal with local rum merchants to fund construction. But as the rum trade soured, the quality of construction also went downhill (Francis Greenway said the columns lacked “classical proportion.”). The building was in a great position, and its double-storey columns and, yes, commodious verandas lent it a certain dignity. When the state-wide gold rush hit in 1851, the hospital was repurposed as the Sydney Mint. Today, the original, sophisticated cast iron frame and underground machinery shafts are still visible, and the terracotta ceiling tiles are the oldest on view in Australia.
State Library of New South Wales
Australia’s oldest library is a symbol of the power of public investment. The organization started out as the Australian Subscription Library but was bought by the state after it built up huge debts. As the State Library of NSW, the initiative repeatedly outgrew its premises. The Mitchell Building, with is Maroubra sandstone and trachyte outer walls, was added 1906-1910. It was based on Walter Liberty Vernon’s designs and was further developed over the next half-century, becoming a rare example of the Inter-war Academic Classical style.
Auburn Gallipoli Mosque
The Auburn Gallipoli Mosque is a place of worship primarily used by Turkish-Australian Muslims. However, it is also a symbol of peace and unity for the Australian and Turkish people who lost family on opposing sides of the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War. The Turkish marble of the open interior creates a stirring echo as sound reaches the dome. The call to prayer can only be heard inside the building due to local bylaws. But from the outside, the classical Ottoman style mosque is a picture of quiet dignity, having withstood petrol bombs and threats from anti-Muslim agitators.
Sydney Observatory
Sydney Observatory is not the first viewing station to be built on Observatory Hill. William Dawes established a short-lived observatory in 1788 to catch sight of a comet that failed to materialize. Australia’s first Government Astronomer, William Scott, was later appointed to build the observatory we know today. The sandstone building is in the Florentine Renaissance style. Its most notable features are the two octagonal telescope domes and ‘timeball tower’ from which a ball was dropped every day at noon, triggering a cannon to be fired to indicate the time to the city. The ball is still dropped in modern times, but now it falls at 1pm daily.