| Historical notes: | Early development of the locality:
This site forms part of the land of the Gadigal people, the traditional custodians of land within the City of Sydney council boundaries. For information about the Aboriginal history of the local area see the City’s Barani website: http://www.sydneybarani.com.au/
The suburb of Rosebery was once part of a vast sand dune system covered by heath, low scrub, creeks and freshwater wetlands that dominated the landscape of the southern suburbs of Sydney. It provided habitat for a range of fauna such as birds, fish and eels, and was a good food source for the Gadigal, the local Aboriginal people.
The land that today incorporates the areas of Alexandria, Waterloo, Zetland and Rosebery was originally one large estate. Originally granted to former convict and public servant William Hutchinson in 1823, the estate, its buildings and water mill, were then sold to Daniel Cooper and Solomon Levy in 1825 before Cooper became its sole owner in 1833.
The land of the Cooper Estate was progressively subdivided into small acreages and sold from 1872.
Before the development of Rosebery into a residential and industrial estate, the suburb was popular for its racecourse which opened in 1906.
The suburb of Rosebery derives its name from Archibald Primrose, Earl of Rosebery and Prime Minister of England from 1894-95, who visited Sydney in 1883-84. Many of the street names of Rosebery are associated with British parliamentarians including Morley Avenue, Crewe Place and Asquith Avenue.
The Rosebery Estate was planned as a model industrial suburb by John Sulman and developed by Stanton and Sons between 1911 and 1920. The land was purchased for £24,000 in 1912 by the Town Planning Company of Australia, as part of 273 acres of the Waterloo Estate. John Sulman exhibited his design for Rosebery in the Town Planning Association of NSW exhibition in 1913. Most lots were still vacant until 1924, possibly due to the outbreak of World War I.
Based on the garden suburb model, Rosebery was planned as ‘model factories and model homes’ with detached housing for workers located close to industrial employment sites. Sulman’s plan incorporated residential, commercial and industrial facilities as well as recreational and community facilities. Similarly to Dacey Gardens which was also planned by John Sulman, Rosebery was one of the first planned suburbs in Sydney, and amongst the earliest inter-war garden suburbs.
Secondary industries declined in the area from the 1970s as industry expanded to the outer suburbs.
Industrial history:
As one of only two major centres for historic Australian industry during the period when industry was centred in cities, Sydney’s industrial development is part of the national history of industrialisation. Australia’s industrialisation formed part of the ‘second industrial revolution’ which began during the mid-nineteenth century. This second revolution was driven by major technological innovations including the invention of the internal combustion engine and the assembly line, development of electricity, the construction of canals, railways and electric-power lines.
Sydney's twentieth century industrial development records when and how Sydney became one of the largest industrialised cities in the South Pacific and the diversification of Australia's economy beyond primary industry. Together with Melbourne, Sydney’s twentieth century industrial boom expanded Australia’s economy from the ‘sheep’s back’ to the ‘industry stack’ or from primary production to manufacturing. By 1947 more Australians were working in city industries than in farms or mines.
Sydney’s industrial development not only impacted on the national economy. Twentieth-century industry in Sydney also played a major role in developing Australia’s self-sufficiency, growth, urbanisation, society and its contribution to the war effort for World War II. Sydney’s industrial development has affected the lives of many Australians directly and indirectly, whether through the number of workers employed, goods and technology produced, the prosperity it engendered, or the social change and urban environments it generated.
Site history:
Wrigley’s chewing gum has been a familiar Australian confectionary brand for nearly 100 years. The American company first began production in Australia in 1915 in Melbourne. Wrigley's opened its Sydney factory at Rosebery on the last day of 1919. They continued to manufacture chewing gum at this site until 1958.
The Wrigley’s chewing gum company was originally established in America. Australia presented a new market for its products in the early twentieth century. On 17 November 1915, Wrigley’s began producing Juicy Fruit chewing gum in Melbourne (www.wrigley.com/aunz/about-us/heritage-timeline.aspx, accessed 11 Oct 2014). It soon moved its operations to Sydney.
A certificate of title was issued to William Wrigley Jr Company Pty Ltd on 5 March 1918 for lots 534-536 and 660-662 DP 7534 facing Crewe Place, which was bounded on the west by Primrose Avenue and on the east by Rosebery Avenue (CT 2828 f 52) Wrigley’s started production there on 31 December 1919. (www.wrigley.com/aunz/about-us/heritage-timeline.aspx, accessed 11 Oct 2014).
The construction of the factory was followed and well-documented in Australian press at the time.
On 17 October 1917, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Wrigleys had decided to erect a large factory in the Rosebery model suburb as its headquarters in Australasia. The reported plans were for a five-story building of reinforced concrete, with external brick-walling. This report noted that the building would be ‘absolutely fireproof and sanitary’ with an ‘abundance of natural light and ventilation’, and noted its technological achievements with ‘scientific heating and cooling apparatus’, elevators, conveyors, electric light and power to be installed. Further reported internal features included dressing rooms, rest rooms, showers and lavatories and ‘every provision for the comfort and welfare’ of the employees, as well as laboratories and testing rooms. Burcham Clamp was reported as the architect (SMH, 17 Nov 1917, p 6).
On 11 February 1918, the Construction and Local Government Journal reported that the new factory for ‘Wrigley’s, of Chewing Gum fame’ was to be constructed at an estimated cost of £25,000 (Construction and Local Government Journal, 11 February 1918, p 12). Architect Burcham Clamp contracted the builders of Stuart Brothers to erect the factory (SMH, 13 Feb 1918, p 9; Construction and Local Government Journal, 18 February 1918, p 9).
The construction of the building was also featured in the Building journal of 1919. The journal described the newly constructed building as 120 feet long by 60 feet wide, comprising 6 floors. The concrete construction technology was a focus of this article. The article noted that the floors were entirely constructed of reinforced concrete ‘on the flat slab principle’ which did not require girders. The floors were designed for a 150 pound per square foot. The grid of concrete mushroom columns also featured prominently in this article, then described as ferro-concrete columns spaced 20 feet apart with a ‘broad spreading abacus’. The external walls of the building were noted as brick with reinforced concrete internal piers taking the floor weight. The large proportion of window glass used was also remarked upon, with the window openings located close to the ceilings for good natural lighting. This report praised the advantages of the absence of downward projecting girders from the ceiling, allowing the clear penetration and reflection of light, and clearance to run conducts, pipes and shafting lines along ceilings. Photographs of the building exteriors and interiors were also published in this journal, which featured the concrete mushroom columns and reinforced concrete slab construction (Building, 11 Jan 1919, p 113-115).
In 1919 a newspaper article about self-made men and advertising published a sketch of the ‘Model Factory at Rosebery’ (Self-made men and the power of advertising, The Bunbury Herald and Blackwood Express, 23 Aug 1919).
The land subdivision of the land for the subject allotments formed part of John Sulman's and Richard Stanton's plan for a model suburb for industry and workers housing. The undated subdivision plan from approximately 1914 was named the 'Rosebery model and industrial suburb'. The deposited plan for this subdivision was surveyed on 5 March 1914 (DP 7534). These plans show that Hayes Road was initially named Ackland Way and Dunning Avenue was formerly Pauls Road.
The Wrigleys building was constructed on six of the original allotments of this subdivision (534-536, 660-662) on a block of land apparently originally subdivided for housing, opposite the land to the west subdivided for industrial development. The residential lots were half the size of the industrial lots.
The industrial lots typically measured approximately 100 feet wide and 130-140 feet deep. In the original plan, industrial lots of these larger dimensions were located on the land between Epson Road to the north and Harcourt Parade to the south, the lanes behind Botany Road to the west and Primrose Avenue to the east. To the east, the plan laid out residential lots distinguished by their narrower measurements generally of 30-40 feet wide and 130-150 feet deep (Inheritage, Heritage Assessment Report of the Rosebery Estate, 2006).
The site chosen for the Wrigleys factory was located in close proximity to James Stedman-Henderson’s Sweets factory built shortly prior in 1917-1919 on the opposite side of Crewe Place. Stedman-Henderson's model factory, known as Sweetacres, also produced confectionary with household names such as ‘Jaffas’ and ‘Minties.’ Sweetacres and Wrigley’s factories were the only substantial buildings constructed in the locality by the early 1920s when panoramic photographs documented these two factories in their undeveloped landscape.
Wrigley’s was adept in using cunning marketing. Wrigley’s produced its own Mother Goose Book, which rewrote traditional nursery rhymes to promote its products. Like much of its Australian marketing, Wrigley’s Mother Goose Book featured an image of the factory at Rosebery (Wrigley’s Mother Goose Book, Speciality Press, Melbourne, 1922). A surviving copy lacks a date, but it was produced by 1 May 1922 when the company published an apology to those who did not obtain a copy at the Royal Easter Show. (SMH, 1 May 1922, p 7)
The modern qualities of the factory were also used in Wrigley’s advertising during the 1920. Advertising from this period pictured this factory and described it as a ‘…magnificent building of five floors built of steel concrete and glass', as well as 'the most modern factory in the Southern Hemisphere’ (The Argus, 16 October 1922, p 4; Rappoport, Preliminary Heritage Assessment, January 2015).
The constructed factory was recorded in panorama photographs from the early 1920s. These show the original rectangular footprint of the building before construction of the eastern wing, which had been constructed by the next available photographic record of the 1943 aerial. These photos also document the lack of surrounding development at this time apart from the former James Stedman-Henderson’s Sweets factory.
On 8 August 1922, the property at Rosebery was formally transferred to Wrigleys (Australasia) Ltd, the company’s new corporate name. On 3 August 1927, a notation on the land title recorded that the company name had been altered to Wrigleys (Australasia) Pty Ltd. (CT 2828 f 52)
A land valuation dated 1 August 1926 records that a brick factory with four floors, concrete roof, and five brick garages were then located on the site (Valuation list, Waterloo, SRNSW 19/9457, Crewe Place, No 643).
Wrigleys (Australasia) Pty Ltd proposed alterations and additions to the Rosebery factory on 12 November 1929 (Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA).
In 1929 the Sydney Morning Herald and Construction & Local Government Journal reported that extensive additions to the factory, designed by the architects of Burcham Clamp and Finch and built by Stuart Bros of Camperdown (Sydney Morning Herald, 3 Dec 1929; Construction and Local Government Journal, 4 Dec 1929).
The 1929 extension added an eastern wing. This added 3 bays in length and 4 bays in depth to the original 1919 factory of 6 bays in length and 3 bays in width.
The next valuation of 14 December 1931 recorded that additions had been completed (Valuation list, Waterloo, SRNSW 19/9457, Crewe Place, No 643).
The 1943 aerial shows the construction of this additional wing, as well as the construction of a World War II trench at the eastern end of the site (1943 aerial, SIX, Land and Property Information).
From 1948 until 1951, a number of alterations and additions were proposed for the factory. On 30 December 1949, the company applied to install an air-conditioning plant at an estimated cost of £2,650 (Crewe Place Wrigleys, Planning Street Cards, NSCA).
The 1949 aerial photograph records the same buildings on the site as the 1943 aerial photograph (1949 aerial photograph, City of Sydney). The 1950 civic survey shows that the L-shaped building footprint was four storeys in height with only two small single-storey free-standing buildings then located to its south.
An application was submitted on 15 June 1951 for extensions (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA). Stafford Moor & Farrington applied on 10 October 1951 to erect a boiler house worth £6,000 and a cooling tower worth £2,000. These works proposed to extend the factory towards east and to build a new boiler house, store building, diesel house and substation. However not all works were constructed. (Crewe Place Wrigleys, Planning Street Cards, NSCA)
The survey of 1956 records the construction of these additional ancillary buildings on the site located to the south of the main L-shaped building.
In 1958, Wrigley closed the Rosebery factory and relocated its chewing gum production to a new factory at Asquith (www.wrigley.com/aunz/about-us/heritage-timeline.aspx, accessed 11 Oct 2014).
The factory was subsequently purchased by Claude Neon Industries Ltd on 13 July 1959 (CT 2828 f 52).
In 1959 Marvelcraft Pty Ltd proposed renovations to use the factory for plastic engineering in an application submitted on 13 August. An unauthorised conversion of the basement cool room into an explosives room was noted in council records on 4 September 1961 (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA).
On 25 May 1965, the builders Paynter & Dixon Pty Ltd proposed additions to use the factory for plastic sheet forming and fabrication, with works valued at £14,000 (Cnr Crewe Place & Rosebery Ave & Primrose Ave, Planning Street Cards, NSCA). Marvelcraft Pty Ltd applied on 26 June 1968 to use the factory to manufacture plastic signs and foam packaging (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA).
By 1975 the next available aerial photograph records the construction of the additional low-height buildings on the site. These include a large building extending across most of the site to the south of the main building, plus an addition with a square footprint to the east of the main building. (1975 aerial photograph, City of Sydney)
The factory was transferred to Clinker Holdings No 18 Pty Ltd on 16 December 1975 (CT 2828 f 52).
On 14 September 1978, B D Wholohan & Associates proposed a sports and office complex at this site at an estimated cost of $750,000 (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA). ‘Clinker Pty Ltd’ subsequently proposed to erect partitions with works valued at $30,000 on 27 November 1981 (Cnr Crewe Place & Rosebery Ave & Primrose Ave, Planning Street Cards, NSCA). These were likely contained within the existing building forms because no major change to the buildings are recorded in subsequent aerial photographs of the site.
On 27 October 1980, Harold R Finger & Co proposed alterations and additions to the building at an estimated cost of $1,100,000 (Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA). On 20 October 1981, two applications were submitted by IBM Australia for a tenancy fit-out of the first and second floors worth $90,000, and by S Pillen for a tenancy fit-out of the third floor worth $10,000 (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA).
Clinker Holdings proposed alterations to the offices on 18 August 1982 (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA). On 18 August 1982, Gaven Constructions proposed alterations to the sporting complex at a cost of $160,000 (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA).
On 11 September 1985, builders Paynter & Dixon proposed alterations to use the ground floor as a computer training centre. The Eastern Suburbs Sports City Pty Ltd then proposed alterations to the sports centre worth $80,000 on 2 June 1986. New partitions were proposed for levels 1, 2 and 3 of the office building at an estimated cost of $115,000 in 1986 (6-8 Crewe Place, Planning Street Cards, NSCA). |