Transport House, Macquarie Street

Item details


Name of item:	Transport House, Macquarie Street
Other name/s:	Department of Road Transport and Tramways Building
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Land
Category:	Road Office Building
Location:	Lat: -33.8641446028579 Long: 151.21130891138
Primary address:	99-113 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Parish:	St James
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Sydney
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Metropolitan

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	3		DP	785393

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
99-113 Macquarie Street	Sydney	Sydney	St James	Cumberland	Primary Address
10 Phillip Street	Sydney	Sydney	St James	Cumberland	Alternate Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
Mulpha Transport House Pty Ltd	Private

Statement of significance:


	Transport House, Macquarie Street is of State significance due to its historical, associational, aesthetic and technical values, rarity and representativeness. The building’s history and design reflect the transition from trams to motor vehicles as Sydney’s dominant mode of transport. Its role in car registration and driver licensing marked a shift from public to private transportation, shaping urban planning and mobility patterns. The building has strong associations with key governmental transport departments, as well as with architect Henry E. Budden, who had a lasting impact on architectural practice in NSW as president of the Institute of Architects of NSW and through his mentorship of young architects. Aesthetically, Transport House contributes to the surrounding streetscape, providing a modernist twist within an otherwise conservative architectural environment. Its exterior, incorporating Stripped Classical, Functionalist, and Art Deco styles, sets it apart from other modernist architecture in Sydney. Its interior features original Art Deco fabric and finishes throughout. The use of modernist principles, including integrated basement car access and a wooden-tread escalator, reflects contemporary technological advancements and is representative of the modernist view of buildings as machines. The rarity of Transport House’s features further enhances its significance. Its Macquarie Street façade is one of the only examples of the Stripped Classical style in a government building in NSW. The wooden escalator is exceptionally rare worldwide and the only one remaining in NSW. Transport House, Macquarie Street is also representative at a State level because of the application of modernist principles and design to government office buildings in the interwar period. Together, these aspects position Transport House as a State-significant piece of architectural, governmental and transport history.
	Date significance updated: 24 Apr 25
	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:	H. E. Budden & Mackey (architect); Rayner Hoff (sculptor)
Builder/Maker:	H. G. Whittle
Construction years:	1938-1938
Physical description:	Transport House, Macquarie Street is a seven-storey former government building presenting a distinctive modernist profile and facades. It features a two-storey Registration Hall with mezzanine galleries, Commissioner's Suite and a driveway through the basement level. Original interior fabric and finishes are present throughout, including a Waygood-Otis timber-cleated escalator. Transport House is located on sloping terrain on a block bounded by Macquarie, Albert, Phillip and Bridge Streets. Because of the fall in ground level, the Macquarie Street and Phillip Street entrances are at different heights. The Macquarie Street entrance is considered as the ground floor, while the Phillip Street entrance is defined as the sub-basement floor. The building comprises a total of seven levels: the sub-basement, basement, ground floor, mezzanine, and three further levels. The rooftop includes lift motor rooms and lift overruns in addition to other building services, as well as three original flagstaffs above the Macquarie Street facade. The building's facades are contrasting and complementary in style. A Stripped Classical idiom on Macquarie Street harmonises with the older buildings in the vicinity. Sandstone fins and peripheral tower elements emphasise the verticality of the Phillip Street facade. The faced sandstone of both provides a noble counterpoint to the more utilitarian brick of the Functionalist north and south facades. The design of these takes advantage of their more horizontal elevations. The tower element of the Philip Street facade creates a striking stepped rooftop sillhouette when viewed from the northwest. Bas relief motifs in sandstone and bronze by sculptor Rayner Hoff are present at both entrances, on the lintels on the Macquarie Street facade and at various points on the frieze high on the southern facade. These reference the god Mercury through a feather-capped figure and snake-entwined sceptre as well as the motor bus and motor car through stylised images of wheels bearing pneumatic tyres. Internally, Transport House presents a sizeable double-storey public space, known as the Registration Hall. Other notable spaces include the vestibules at the Macquarie and Phillip Street entrances, the latter of which gives access to the Registration Hall via an original timber-cleated Waygood-Otis escalator, preserved in situ but not operational. Transport House is replete with Art Deco detailing and finishes throughout, including scagliola columns and rounded polychrome brickwork in the Registration Hall. The original uses of many spaces is evident in the handwritten signage in several places. The interiors of areas remain intact with excellent polished stone detailing and tiling throughout and detailed plaster acoustic ceilings in the Registration Hall and mezzanine galleries. The timber joinery in the Commissioner's Suite is also noteworthy. Car access through Transport House follows the original driveway through the basement level. Hand-lettered signage warning pedestrians before crossing has been preserved in the basement level stairwell. ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL The address 99-113 Macquarie Street is identified on the Archaeological Zoning Plan for Central Sydney as an 'Area of Archaeological Potential - Deeper Sub-surface Features Only' (City of Sydney 1992). Excavation to bedrock level during construction of the Macquarie Street side has removed the bulk of archaeological deposits, although deeper structures such as wells may remain. The Phillip Street side may have suffered less disturbance and may, therefore, hold greater potential for survival of shallow deposits (Godden Mackay Logan 2002).
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The facades of Transport are generally in excellent condition, with the exception of some erosion to the sandstone in sections of the parapet. The encroachment of neighbouring buildings to the north and south elevations have blocked some windows and hindered solar access, however these facades are otherwise in excellent condition. Internally, some fittings have been lost, most notably the custom-built office furniture and pneumatic tube system in the Registration Hall and a large central light fitting over the Phillip Street vestibule. Original fabric has also been extensively removed in the upper floors, the original walls between offices having been mostly dismantled and some staircases removed. Numerous non-contributory additions have been made throughout.
	Date condition updated:09 Apr 25
Modifications and dates:	The single largest impact on fabric occurred in 1952 with restructure of government departments (Godden Mackay Logan 2002). The removal of original counters, office spaces, information desks, seats and writing tables impacted on the Registration Hall's integrity and on the ability to interpret its original use (Truman, Zaniol & Associates 2002). Further impacts occurred from 1989 in the adaptation of the building from government offices to the needs of successive private tenants. In 2021, further modification took place in the adaptation of the sub-basement floor to a wine bar and end-of-trip facilities and in the refurbishment of levels 3, 4 and 5.


Current use:	Private offices, wine bar
Former use:	Government offices, public space, car parking, tram depot (part)

History

Historical notes:

STATEMENT OF COUNTRY

Transport House, Macquarie Street is located on the land of the Gadigal of the Eora nation (AIATSIS/Horton 1996). The building stands in the vicinity of several natural streams, including the Tank Stream, now partially interrupted by the built environment. The mud flats associated with the mouth of the Tank Stream offered food sources, while fresh water was available further upstream. Many places around the harbour remained important hunting, fishing, and camping grounds long after European settlement, and continue to be culturally significant today.

CHANGING MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

The site now bordered by Phillip, Albert, Macquarie and Bridge Streets has long been associated with transportation and a range of government institutions. The competing fates of trams, buses and cars (of public and private transport) over the course of the late 19th and 20th centuries are reflected in the site's history.

In 1882, just three years after steam-powered trains and trams began operation in Sydney, the Bridge Street tram depot opened. It was built to provide a centralised location for trams to refuel, uncouple and rearrange carriages, undergo repairs, and to pick up and set down passengers. The trams were a success and rapidly expanded their services to accommodate increasing numbers of commuters, who demanded ever more routes. Already by 1882 steam tram patronage exceeded 15 million trips (Banksia Heritage and Archaeology 2002). Sydney's tram network continued to prosper as it underwent electrification between 1898 and 1910.

By the beginning of the interwar period, however, trams started to suffer criticism due to the competition for road space and passengers that motor cars and buses presented (Robertson 2023). Car ownership increased massively during the 1920s (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001). Despite each car passenger requiring 6 times more road space than a tram passenger, trams were frequently blamed for congestion on the roads (Davison 2004). The motor car lobby gained traction through associations such as the Royal Automotive Club of Australia. As the decade neared its conclusion, Premier Bertram Stevens announced the phasing out of trams (Singleton Argus 1937). The total replacement of trams by buses was to occur within 15 years but was delayed by the Second World War (The Bulletin 1956).

Transportation was at the centre of NSW public policy during the 1930s as decision-makers sought to shape and regulate the growing mobility of residents and commuters. New legislation included the Transport Act 1930, the Ministry of Transport Act 1932 and the Transport (Division of Functions) Act 1932. The importance of the transport portfolio was reflected by the fact that, from 1932 to 1941, Minister of Transport Michael Bruxner also held the position of the Deputy-Premier.

The Division of Functions Act established the Department of Road Transport and Tramways. Initially split across several office locations, the department came together under a single roof in 1938 in the purpose-built Transport House on Macquarie Street. The building's design demonstrated that the private motor car was well on its way to becoming the dominant mode of transport on Sydney's streets.

Whereas the administration of trams and buses was assigned generic office space on upper levels, the functions associated with the car took pride of place. The building's grandest internal space, Registration Hall, served as a public area for the department's interface with the private owners of motor cars: vehicle registration, and licence application and renewal. A driveway from Macquarie Street gave senior management access to indoor parking space on the basement level for departmental cars. Vehicles due for inspection continued through the building and into a southern yard, where mechanical service pits and a weighbridge awaited. The driveway entered through the building's northern facade at the basement level. The direction of travel, tracking diagonally from northeast to southwest, referenced the orientation of the tram depot tracks that previously crossed the site.

TRANSPORT HOUSE AS AN ARCHITECTURAL MACHINE

Transport House was designed by architects Henry Ebenezer Budden and Nicholas Charles Mackey, who practised as H.E. Budden & Mackey from 1931 to 1939. Their partnership spanned the decade immediately before the Second World War, a period that saw significant government investment in office space in the Sydney CBD. Public spending on design and building helped the ailing architectural and construction industries, which had suffered through the Great Depression. Budden and Mackey joined together as unemployment in NSW reached a 32 per cent at the height of the Depression (Parliament of NSW n.d.). Over the nine-year period that their partnership lasted, H.E. Budden & Mackey produced several buildings, of which Railway House (1935) on York Street, Transport House (1938) on Macquarie Street and the Metropolitan Water Sewerage & Drainage Board Building (1939) on Pitt Street were government commissions. Mackey led the design work, while Budden coordinated the administrative side of the firm (Rozenker-Apted 1998). The Stripped Classical style that they chose for Transport House's Macquarie Street facade, though uncommon in Sydney, was frequently used for institutional buildings in Canberra as a way of achieving a stately effect through an economy of means.

Among the design features in Transport House, the escalator served a symbolic function more than a practical one, echoing the escalator's presence throughout the transport network and its contribution to an ambitious metropolitan transport plan. The volume of patrons carried and the distance traversed by the escalator paled in comparison to the contemporary Wynyard and Town Hall examples and hardly justified the inclusion from a strictly Functionalist perspective.

Quite apart from its functionality, however, the escalator represented the modernist ideal of cities and buildings as complex mechanisms. Just two years earlier, Railway House had been likened to 'a great, complicated machine' whose success depended 'on the smooth running of each and every part' (Decoration and Glass 1936).

The design of Transport House interwove several additional transport and communications technologies through its layout and fabric. While customers and employees entering on foot from Phillip Street ascended the escalator, those arriving by car could drive their automobiles from Macquarie Street through an opening in the northern wall. Lastly, customers were spared the inefficiencies of having to move between the registration and cashiers' counters thanks to a pneumatic (air-driven) tube system, which allowed clerks and tellers to exchange documents, cash and receipts via the speedy relay of capsules (Building 1938).

None of these technologies (the escalator, the motor car or the pneumatic relay) were entirely new but their combination inside a building purpose-built for the administration of transport infrastructure was novel. Transport House embodied the spirit of mobility and efficiency that so captured the contemporary imagination and which underpinned the modernist worldview that informed Australian interwar architectural practice.

Together with the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board headquarters, executed in 1939, Transport House was one of the last government office buildings to be built before the Second World War began. Mackey and Budden's partnership did not survive the onset of war and the resulting changes in public spending.

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The end of the Second World War further reinforced the dominance of car and bus transportation. Materials shortages and debt steered government away from renewing its ailing tram system, by this time in a dilapidated state. Overseas consultants swayed policy towards the car and bus. Commercial interests in petroleum, rubber and bus manufacturing and the war-time development of the petrol engine all aided in the promotion of cars and buses to the detriment of trams (The Trolley Wire 1952). Suburban development, away from the concentrated tram network, further accelerated the move away from tramways (Robertson 2023).

The importance of motor transport relative to electric tramways gave rise to a departmental reshuffle in 1952. The administration of trams and buses remained in Transport House under the new Department of Government Transport, but functions associated with cars were moved, resulting in changes to the purpose-built aspects of the building. The building's public use was effectively ended as registration and licensing functions for cars were handled elsewhere. Registration Hall was stripped of its custom-built filing compartments, counters, information desks, seats and writing tables, and the pneumatic relay. The flow of pedestrian and motorised traffic via the building's escalator and basement drive-through slowed to a trickle. When the last Sydney tram ceased operation in 1961, Transport House's association with the tramways also came to an end (The Trolley Wire 1961). Government ownership ended in 1989 with the sale of Transport House to private hands.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Public tramline system-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Administering transport, public and private-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - providing public transport-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Providing public offices and buildings-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Interior design styles and periods - Art Deco-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Architectural styles and periods - Interwar Art Deco-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Architectural styles and periods - Interwar Stripped Classical-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Budden and Mackey, architects-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with H.G. Whittle, builder-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Rayner (G. Rayner) Hoff, sculptor-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	Transport House, Macquarie Street is State significant for the ways in which it embodies the changing structure and policies of NSW governmental departments associated with transportation. The building and the site on which it stands illustrate the rise and fall of trams as the form of public transport most favoured by governments and commuters in metropolitan Sydney. Its construction over the Bridge Street tram yard in 1938 forewarned of the demise of the city’s tramways. The building’s role in the administration of car registration and driver licences between 1938 and 1952 demonstrates a turn away from communal, public modes of transport to individualistic ones. This period established the dominance of the privately owned motor car on Sydney’s streets and beyond and had a profound effect on urban and transport planning.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	Transport House, Macquarie Street is State significant for its strong associations with a succession of government departments. It was built in 1938 to centralise the offices of the Department of Road Transport and Tramways. Later, the building housed the Department of Government Tram and Omnibus Services, the Department of Government Transport, the Public Transport Commission and, lastly, the State Transit Authority before passing to private hands in 1989. The role of architect Henry Ebenezer Budden in producing Transport House is a further source of associative significance for Transport House. Budden's reputation within the architectural fraternity is demonstrated in his status as a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and his presidency of the Institute of Architects of NSW between 1931 and 1932, a position he was awarded in recognition of his influence on new generations of aspiring architects. Budden was also celebrated for his duties as the first War Chest Commissioner at the outbreak of the First World War, during which he distributed materials through the Australian Comforts Fund to soldiers at his own expense.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	As a strong contributory element in the Macquarie Street urban landscape and, by extension, to the Governors’ Domain and Civic Precinct, Transport House, Macquarie Street demonstrates State significant aesthetic values. The application of multiple modernist styles to the design of a government office building contrasts with the more conservative styles generally favoured for housing Sydney’s public institutions. The building has a striking profile when viewed to the south along Phillip Street. Transport House also has aesthetic value for the innovative approach taken by H.E. Budden & Mackey to merge these distinct styles to produce a cohesive building. Internally, the building’s significance extends to the original Art Deco fabric and finishes present throughout. Transport House features several technical values of State significance. The escalator, conceived of by contemporaries as a mode of transport, symbolically links the building with a broader transport network. This is further illustrated by the driveway which provided car access through the building’s basement level, integrating the motor car with the building’s fabric. This feature is State significant as an early example of a public vehicle ramp and basement floor carpark and garage.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The use of the Stripped Classical style in the design of Transport House, Macquarie Street is rare for a government building in NSW and is significant at a State level. The only other known examples are the Maritime Services Board Building (now the Museum of Contemporary Art) and the Pitt Street additions to the Sydney General Post Office. The Stripped Classical facade also distinguishes Transport House from H.E. Budden & Mackey’s other government work. The combination of Stripped Classical, Functionalist and Art Deco styles makes Transport House exceptionally rare at the State level. Transport House, Macquarie Street is State significant on account of the rarity of the wooden-tread escalator retained in its original location. Such escalators are found in situ in exceptionally few places in the world. This example, manufactured by Waygood-Otis, is also rare for its narrowness, measuring a third of the width of those once installed in the railway stations at Wynyard and Town Hall. Since the removal of these in 2017, the Transport House escalator is the only example extant in NSW and is one of approximately 36 extant wooden escalators worldwide.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Transport House, Macquarie Street is of State significance as a building representative of design responses to the motor car and other technologies, a hallmark of modernist architecture. Transport House is an excellent illustration of the modernist conception of buildings as architectural machines. This is manifested in the escalator, driveway and pneumatic tube system integrated into the building’s design and in decorative sculptural elements representing motor cars and buses. The use of the escalator to link Transport House with the wider transport network is representative of the use of technology in modernist design and as a symbolic design element.
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:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Review a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)	13 Feb 25
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines	13 Feb 25
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education	13 Feb 25

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act - Site Specific Exemptions	Exemption Order for Transport House, Macquarie House listing on the State Heritage Register (SHR 02111) under the Heritage Act 1977 I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of NSW dated 6 May 2025, make the following order under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977 (the Act) granting an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out of any activities described in Schedule C by the owner, manager, mortgagee or lessee (or persons authorised by the owner or manager) of the item described in Schedule A on the land identified in Schedule B. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 21 day of August 2025. The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage SCHEDULE A The item known as Transport House, Macquarie Street SHR 02111, situated on the land described in Schedule B. SCHEDULE B The item known as Transport House, Macquarie Street SHR 02111, located as identified on the plan catalogued Heritage Council Plan 3347 in the office of the Heritage Council of NSW. SCHEDULE C The following specified activities/ works to an item do not require approval under section 57(1) of the Act. GENERAL CONDITIONS These general conditions apply to the use of all the site specific exemptions: a) In these exemptions, words have the same meaning as in the Heritage Act 1977 or the relevant guidelines, unless otherwise indicated. Where there is an inconsistency between relevant guidelines and these exemptions, these exemptions prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. Where there is an inconsistency between either relevant guidelines or these exemptions and the Heritage Act 1977, the Act will prevail. b) Anything done under the site specific exemptions must be carried out by people with knowledge, skills and experience appropriate to the work (some site specific exemptions require suitably qualified and experienced professional advice/ work). c) The site specific exemptions do not permit the removal of relics or Aboriginal objects. If relics are discovered, work must cease in the affected area and the Heritage Council of NSW must be notified in writing in accordance with section 146 of the Heritage Act 1977. Depending on the nature of the discovery, assessment and an excavation permit may be required prior to the recommencement of work in the affected area. If any Aboriginal objects are discovered, excavation or disturbance is to cease, and Heritage NSW must be notified in accordance with section 89A of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Aboriginal object has the same meaning as in the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. d) Activities/ works that do not fit within the exemptions described in this document or the ‘standard exemptions’ for items listed on the State Heritage Register made under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977, and published in the NSW Government Gazette would require an approval under the Heritage Act 1977. It is an offence to do any of the things listed in section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 without a valid exemption or approval. e) The site specific exemptions are self-assessed. It is the responsibility of a proponent to ensure that the proposed activities/ works fall within the site specific exemptions. The proponent is responsible for ensuring that any activities/ works undertaken by them, or with their landowners’ consent, meet all the required conditions and have all necessary approvals. f) Proponents must keep records of any activities/ works for auditing and compliance purposes by the Heritage Council of NSW. Where advice of a suitably qualified and experienced professional has been sought, a record of that advice must be kept. Records must be kept in a current readable electronic file or hard copy for a reasonable time. g) The site specific exemptions under the Heritage Act 1977 are not authorisations, approvals, or exemptions for the activities/works under any other legislation, Local Government and State Government requirements (including, but not limited to, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974), or construction codes such as the National Construction Code. h) The site specific exemptions under the Heritage Act 1977 do not constitute satisfaction of the relevant provisions of the National Construction Code for ancillary works. Activities or work undertaken pursuant to a site specific exemption must not, if it relates to an existing building, cause the building to contravene the National Construction Code. i) Where relevant The Heritage Manual (1996, Heritage Office and Department of Urban Affairs and Planning) and The Maintenance Series (1996 republished 2004, NSW Heritage Office and Department of Urban Affairs & Planning) guidelines, or any subsequent documents prepared to replace or supplement these documents, must be complied with then undertaking any activities/works on an item. EXEMPTION 1: APPROVED WORKS Specified activities/ works: a) All works which form part of a current and valid development consent in force at the date of gazettal for listing Transport House, Macquarie Street on the State Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1977. b) All works which form part of any approved modifications to the above consents. c) All works which form part of any future development application to the City of Sydney Council that is entirely in accordance with SSD-7693 or SSD-7693 MOD 2. NOTE: State Significant Development consents also apply to the item (SSD-7693 and SSD- 7693 MOD 2) but do not require an exemption as a separate approval is not required under the Heritage Act 1977 for State Significant Development. EXEMPTION 2: EXTERNAL WORKS WITHIN CURTILAGE Specified activities/ works: a) Maintenance, repair or replacement of: i. significant fabric that is in poor condition, including works related to glazing, spalling of sandstone, and pointing, where intervention is strictly necessary to prevent further degradation or safety risks b) Maintenance, repair, upgrade or replacement of: ii. non-significant civil works, including footpaths, where this does not involve alteration to, damage to, or the removal of, significant fabric iii. site security, including the installation of video surveillance equipment, where this uses existing penetrations and service routes (where possible) or minimises new penetrations and service routes, is installed in discrete locations and does not obscure or detract from significant fabric or views. Relevant standards: i. Repair or replacement of significant fabric must be like for like. ii. Replacement of significant fabric can only occur when it is deteriorated beyond repair. iii. New penetrations into significant fabric are to be minimised. Penetrations should be into mortar joints wherever possible. EXEMPTION 3: TENANCY FITOUT WORKS AND COMMERCIAL SPACES Specified activities/ works: a) Demolition or alteration of existing, or construction of new, non-significant internal fitouts, including internal lightweight partitions, internal doors, floor finishes, and false ceilings and associated services to office, retail and commercial areas b) Works associated with the outdoor use of the roof level, including provision of temporary fixed furnishings, but only where furnishing structures will not infill, or partially infill, the terrace and would not be visible over the parapet or from the surrounding streets c) Installation of new services or alterations to existing services to meet Australian Standards or to achieve a NABERs rating of 4.5 or higher and to meet any fire standard. Relevant standards: i. Works must not impact significant fabric, including the rooftop flagstaffs, or views of the item. ii. The addition of non-significant fabric must be reversible. iii. The introduction of partitions must not impact significant spaces or their volumes, including the Registration Hall, mezzanine galleries, Commissioner’s Suite, Macquarie Street and Phillip Street lobbies, stair and escalator access from Philip Street to the Registration Hall, basement-level driveway, lift lobbies and stairs. EXEMPTION 4: ELECTRICAL AND LIGHTING SERVICES Specified activities/ works: a) Repair, replacement or upgrade of existing, or installation of new, electrical and lighting services, both external and internal b) Temporary installation of internal electrical or lighting services for a special event, business purpose or safety reason. Relevant standards: i. Activities/ works must not impact significant fabric nor obscure or detract from heritage features or significant views, and must be sympathetic to significant fabric and spaces. ii. Activities/ works must reuse existing penetrations. iii. Temporary installations must be reversible, remain in place for a maximum of 6 months and have no impact on significant fabric or the overall heritage significance of the item. iv. Where a temporary electrical or lighting service follows another in the same space, an exclusion period of 90 days must be observed between the removal of one service and the installation of another.	Aug 29 2025
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register	Transport House, Macquarie Street	02111	29 Aug 25	353
Local Environmental Plan	Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 - "Transport	I1870	22 Sep 12
Local Environmental Plan	Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2005	291	09 Dec 05	154	135
Royal Australian Institute of Architects register			31 Aug 90
Art Deco Society register	Transport House		13 Feb 25
National Heritage List	Governors' Domain and Civic Precinct, Macquarie St	106103	10 Feb 21
Register of the National Estate	Transport House	2450	28 Sep 82

Study details

Title	Year	Author	Guidelines used
Transport House, 99-113 Macquarie Street, Sydney : conservation plan	1998	Godden Mackay Logan	No
Transport House, 99-113 Macquarie Street, Sydney : conservation plan	1997	John Graham and Associates	No
Archaeological assessment of proposed development at Hotel Inter-continental and Transport House	2002	Banksia Heritage and Archaeology	No
Significance Assessment for Town Hall Timber Escalators nos. 1 & 2 and Wynyard Escalators nos. 1, 2, 3, & 4	2016	Andrew Grant (Significance International) for Sydney Trains	No
The Central Sydney Archaeological Zoning Plan	1992	City of Sydney	No
Heritage Impact Assessment for Former Transport House and the Hotel Intercontinental	2002	Truman, Zaniol & Associates	No
Conservation Management Plan: Transport House, 99-113 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000	2020	Urbis	No

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written		1961	The Trolley Wire: New Series 2, no. 2, February 1961	View detail
Written		1952	The Trolley Wire: A.E.T.A. Sydney Branch Bulletin 1, no. 3, April 1952	View detail
Written		1937	‘Escalators at David Jones, Ltd.’, Sydney Morning Herald 27 November 1937	View detail
Written		1936	‘Railway House, Wynyard Square’, Decoration and Glass, May 1936
Written		1934	‘Footboard Trams: Frequency of Accidents, Conductors Protest’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 April 1934	View detail
Written		1934	‘Hordern Brothers Ltd.: Trading Well Maintained’, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 October 1934	View detail
Written		1932	'M.U.I.O.O.F. Building Escalators Great Public Interest', Building: the magazine for the architect, builder, property owner and merchant, vol 52, no 301	View detail
Written		1931	Building, 12 September 1931
Written		1924	The Sun, 28 July 1924
Written			1301.0 - Year Book of Australia, 2001	View detail
Written			1930 to 1939 - Depression and Crisis	View detail
Written	Anita Heiss		Aboriginal People and Place, Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City
Written	David de Rozenker-Apted (The Twentieth Century Heritage Society of NSW Inc)	1998	‘DA D/98/05292, 99-113 Macquarie Street, Sydney’ letter to Alexandra Skywak (Council of the City of Sydney), 27 November 1998
Written	Emma Robertson	2023	'The girl conductor has come to stay: Gender and labour on the buses in interwar Australia', The Journal of Transport History, vol. 44, no. 3	View detail
Written	Graeme Davison	2004	Car wars: how the car won our hearts and conquered our cities
Written	Jonathan Bryant	2018	‘A New Life for the Sydney Water Head Office’, The News, Winter 2018	View detail
Written	Mark Dunn	2017	Escalation Sensation: Wooden Escalators at Wynyard and Town Hall Railway Stations	View detail

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5061639
File number:	EF12/11634

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