Former John Bridge Woolstore Facades

Item details


Name of item:	Former John Bridge Woolstore Facades
Other name/s:	John Bridge Warehouse, Post Master General Stores Branch, Furama Hotel
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Commercial
Category:	Warehouse/storage area
Location:	Lat: -33.8797122265413 Long: 151.202385898005
Primary address:	68 Harbour Street, Haymarket, NSW 2000
Local govt. area:	Sydney

Boundary:

The listing relates to the street facades only.

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Type
Little Hay Street	Haymarket	Sydney
68 Harbour Street	Haymarket	Sydney	Primary Address
Factory Street	Haymarket	Sydney	Alternate Address
64 Harbour Street	Haymarket	Sydney	Alternate Address

Statement of significance:


	The former John Bridge woolstore has historic significance for its association with John Bridge & Co, one of the leading wool and grain businesses for which it was built. Now part of the Furama Hotel, it is a rare example of a large fine Victorian period woolstore beautifully built in polychrome brickwork. It is a superbly-scaled element in the streetscape. It is representative of a period of development which saw many warehouses constructed around the piers, wharves and goods railway sidings of Darling Harbour. The small display section of cruciform cast-iron structure retained from the original structure has scientific significance.
	Date significance updated: 01 Feb 06
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	William Pritchard (or his son Arthur)
Builder/Maker:	Stuart Bros
Construction years:	1889-1889
Physical description:	The former John Bridge warehouse is now part of a modern hotel development which extends to Little Hay Street to the south. The building addresses both Harbour Street and Factory Street in a distinguished planer design. The storey levels are marked in the orange-brown walling by projecting bands, and the angles of the facades and the window reveals are quoined, with cream bricks. The arches of the openings are laid in red bricks. The parapet is rendered as a panelled entablature. The great thickness of the perimeter walls at ground floor level signifies the difficulty encountered in traditional loadbearing construction as building heights increased. Internally the seven levels of the old building were gutted and in 1989 replaced by a concrete structure; the only original structural elements now visible are re-positioned in the ground-floor restaurant in the south end. The cruciform-section cast iron columns have distinctive saddle-form capitals and stiffening rings, and the heavy timber girders support timber joists. Category:Individual Building (street facades). Style:Victorian Free Classical. Storeys:7. Facade:Polychrome brickwork & render. Side/Rear Walls:Polychrome brickwork & render. Internal Walls:Plastered brick, plasterbd. & stud (1989). Roof Cladding:Corrugated steel sheet (1989). Internal Structure:Reinforced conc. column & beam (1989), some repositioned structure on ground floor.. Floor:Reinf. conc. slab (1989). Roof:Reinf. conc. slab (1989). Ceilings:Susp. plasterboard (1989). Stairs:(1989). Fire Stairs:(1989). Sprinkler System:Yes. Lifts:(1989). AirConditioned:Yes " the floor structure consists of iron posts supporting ironbark girders spanning 5.2m at 3.7m centres. The round post was cast with length-wise stiffening ribs and four circular fillets. Base and cap saddles were cast integrally with the shaft of the post; the ironbark girders are seated inside the saddles which have projecting flangs for the bolt fixing of the post above to the lower post. The 250 by 75mm floor joists are let 130mm into the girders. Laterasl support is given to the posts by placing the two adjoining joists close to the sddles. The saw-tooth roof trusses ate timber. The iron supporting posts here have a cruciform cap to which both the truss and the cross girder of the south-light panel are attached. (p90-91, Warehouses and woolstores of Victorian Sydney)
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The monorail now passes along the Harbour Street frontage just above the first floor windows. The design of the adjoining development to the south (Holiday Inn) took some cues from the old building and, although three storeys higher, is somewhat harmonious with it by virtue of its planer form, banding, colours, and to a lesser extent, its fenestration. The rear facade of the old building, to Kimber Lane, is visually wasted on account of the narrowness of that street. Internally, the building has been completely rebuilt with a new reinforced concrete structure..
	Date condition updated:28 Mar 07
Modifications and dates:	1889
Further information:	High Significance:Original form. All facades and original or early facade elements. Retained original structural elements displayed on the ground floor especially cruciform cast iron columns. Low Significance:Top floor recent window openings. Colin Brady (1996) Comments:Was heritage item in 1989, listing revoked under H-LEP 1998. Now listed under Sydney LEP 2005, Schedule 8: Central Sydney Heritage Items, Part 2: Building Elements, "Street Facades". Heritage Inventory sheets are often not comprehensive, and should be regarded as a general guide only. Inventory sheets are based on information available, and often do not include the social history of sites and buildings. Inventory sheets are constantly updated by the City as further information becomes available. An inventory sheet with little information may simply indicate that there has been no building work done to the item recently: it does not mean that items are not significant. Further research is always recommended as part of preparation of development proposals for heritage items, and is necessary in preparation of Heritage Impact Assessments and Conservation Management Plans, so that the significance of heritage items can be fully assessed prior to submitting development applications.


Current use:	Hotel
Former use:	Warehouse Store

History

Historical notes:

The "Eora people" was the name given to the coastal Aborigines around Sydney. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country". Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora.
With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal and Wangal people were decimated but there are descendants still living in Sydney today.

(Information sourced from Anita Heiss, "Aboriginal People and Place", Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani )

This former wool warehouse was designed in 1889 for John Bridge & Co and constructed by Stuart Brothers. John Bridge & Co was one of the leading wool and grain businesses of Australia. The building was used as a woolstore until it was acquired by the Commonwealth Government in 1914, for use as a Post Master General Department's stores branch. Its designer was probably William Pritchard. A perspective drawing published in The Freeman's Journal in April 1889 bears the Pritchard name (the initial is missing, so it is not known whether it was William or his son Arthur, who was also an architect). The building is often likened to the enlarged Mort & Co wool warehouse designed at Circular Quay by the Blackets (or by John Horbury Hunt when he was in Blacket's office). Like the Harbour Street warehouse, the Mort building had a roof of sawtooth truss construction with south-light glazing to provide excellent light in the top floor, conventionally the wool sale floor. Hunt claimed that he introduced this roof form into Australia. Interestingly, Blacket & Son designed a wool warehouse for a Jonathon Bridge in 1882. It also had a sawtooth roof . In 1977 the former John Bridge warehouse was converted to offices. In 1989 the internal structure of cast iron columns and heavy timber girders was demolished and the whole converted to its present hotel use. In 1992, the ground floor was converted to a licensed tavern.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The building is associated with John Bridge & Co, one of the leading wool and grain businesses in Australia for whom it was built. It is an evocative link with Darling Harbour, whose intensive mercantile activity was symbolised not only by warehouses such as this but also by the network of wharves, railway spurs, roads and lanes in the immediate vicinity. It demonstrates the historic scale of grain and wool warehouses in the years of economic boom at the end of the 19th century. Has historic significance locally.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	Its internal structure was an exemplar of composite construction employing unique cruciform cast-iron columns, heavy timber girders, floor joists, herringbone strutting and timber flooring. A small component of this has been repositioned as a display in the interior of the ground floor restaurant. Has aesthetic significance locally. Cultural:The facades form very elegant planer designs, bestowing upon the great bulk of this building a graceful urban scale, most attractive streetscape, and pleasing polychromatic brick detail. The relationship of the adjoining hotel development is also harmonious.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The building is a rare survivor of a large and finely designed warehouse with loadbearing walls of polychrome brickwork incorporating traditional but unusually planer fenestration.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The building represents the larger late Victorian woolstore typology that incorporated saw tooth south light roofs for the display of wool. It is also a good example of the many warehouses that once surrounded Darling Harbour.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:

General: The general form, scale and configuration of the former John Bridge Warehouse should be retained. There should be no vertical extension of the building. Exterior: Original or early elements, including the face brickwork and cement rendered detailing, should be conserved with appropriate maintenance. Timber window and door joinery should not be altered unless justified by historical evidence. Original window and door openings on the two main street facades should not be altered, enlarged or filled in. The windows inserted into the facade at the top floor level in the 1980s could, however, be infilled in the future. It is desirable that the downpipes, which were a prominent feature of the facades, be reconstructed. Previously unpainted surfaces, such as the external brickwork, should not be painted. Previously painted surfaces should continue to be painted in traditional colours. Signage should be limited to identification signs at ground floor level and should be discretely designed. Interior: Given that the interior of the building has been completely rebuilt there is scope for further adaptation of the interior provided extant significant fabric is not adversely affected. The history and use of the building should be interpreted in a publicly accessible part of the historic building such as the restaurant area.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Sydney LEP 2005, Sch 8, Part 2	19	09 Dec 05	154	142
Local Environmental Plan	Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012	I852	14 Dec 12
Heritage study

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written			SCC Records
Written			National Trust Listing
Written			Sands Directories;
Written			Sydney Cityscope;
Written			Land Titles Office;
Written	Anita Heiss		Aboriginal People and Place, Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City
Written	E.Balint, T.Howells		Warehouses & Woolstores of Victorian Sydney
Written	Emery Balint	1984	Historic record of Sydney city buildings : a review of historic commercial building construction in the Victorian era.

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	2424224

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