Sydney Art Deco Heritage

The developer, Colonial, has requested permission from the minister for planning to remove the heritage overlay which would allow complete demolition of one of Victoria’s most significant Art Deco heritage buildings, Lonsdale House. Melbourne risks going down the path Sydney has adopted in the past of sacrificing culturally significant buildings to the developers and leaving the city with no soul. Despite appeals by the National Trust and the Art Deco Society, Heritage Victoria has sternly refused to protect this significant building and the Lonsdale Street and Caledonian Lane streetscapes for future generations. **** UPDATE **** On January 15th 2010 demolition of Lonsdale House had commenced. A sad day for Melbourne and for Art Deco heritage in general.

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

The site at 388 Pitt Street, Sydney, for the Civic hotel was purchased by Tooth & Company in 1937. The license was acquired in September 1940 when it was transferred from the City Railway hotel on Castlereagh Street. On completion of rebuilding in September 1940 to a design by R.A. Provost and Associates the hotel was a three storeyed brick stucture, with a flat concrete roof and a fully tiled ground floor exterior. The architectural style is known as P. & O. Ship Style because of its similarities to ocean liner forms. The builders were William Hughes & Co. The hotel was sold in August 1982. The Civic hotel was the finest of five hotels constructed in the interwar Functionalist style in the city during a short period between 1938 and 1942; the others are the Australian hotel (Broadway), the Hollywood hotel, the Clare Inn and Sutherlands hotel. The Civic Hotel was the last purpose built hotel in the city and its location reflects the former prominence of the district.

Located on the corner of Auburn Road and Queen Street in Auburn . the original hotel on the site was known as Furlong's Royal hotel. This Hotel was purchased by Tooth & Co in May 1939 and rebuilt to a design by Sidney Warden. Of all the architects that worked for Tooth & Co none designed more hotels than Sidney Warden. He left a legacy of 392 hotels (new and/or alterations to existing buildings) including the Oxford, the Light Brigade, the Mayfair, the Henson Park, the Broadway, the Lansdowne and many many more too numerous to mention. This is how the original hotel looked in 1936. After Tooth & Co purchased the hotel rebuilding commenced and was completed on the 2nd of December 1940. it was a two storeyed brick structure, roofed partly with tiles and partly with flat concrete blocks and had a fully tiled ground floor exterior. The architectural style is known as P. & O. Ship Style because of its similarities to ocean liner forms. The Public Bar had a r

Here are a couple of examples of modern Art Deco styling I saw in Chicago. Click on the image for a full resolution view. 1) Harpo Productions building - 1025W Randolph St Chicago Home of the Oprah Winfrey show. I discovered this quite by accident as I was looking for the Museum of Holography which is in the vicinity. The museum was closed but finding this building made the journey out of the city worthwhile. 2) Large Wall Sconces - 77 W Wacker St, Chicago. Nice modern Art Deco styling.