| Photographs | |
|---|---|
| List | Commonwealth Heritage List |
| Class | Historic |
| Legal Status | Place removed from CHL |
| Place ID | 105509 |
| Place File No | 1/12/036/0045 |
| Summary Statement of Significance | ||||||||||||
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The Sydney GPO, built from the 1860s onwards on the site of the earlier Sydney post office, is historically highly significant on account of its association with the delivery and development of postal services in NSW over more than a century. It is also important for its role in the development of an integrated national postal and telecommunications system after Federation; it was the venue for major conferences on this subject in 1896 and 1900. (Criterion A.4) The building is a key example of Victorian Free Classical architectural style. The style is reflected in the GPO's symmetry, prominent clock tower, parapets and skyline elements, extensive arcade, and pilasters and pediments. (Criterion D.2) Sydney's GPO, possessing the city's finest stone facade, is the most impressive post office building in the state, and with Melbourne's GPO is the grandest such building in Australia. With its monumental scale and massing, its clock tower and its Classical styling, the GPO possesses landmark qualities and is a key element in the Martin Place streetscape of central Sydney. (Criteria F.1 and E.1) The GPO has additional significance owing to its association with Colonial Architect James Barnet. The building is regarded as one of Barnet's finest creations. (Criterion H.1) The GPO has considerable social significance for Sydney residents owing to the building's lengthy connection with postal services. (Criterion G.1) |
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| Official Values | ||||||||||||
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| Description | ||||||||||||
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In designing the Sydney GPO, James Barnet drew his
inspiration from the Palazzi Communali of late
Mediaeval and Renaissance Italy. The building is a key example of the Victorian
Free Classical style. The style is seen in the symmetrical facade facing Martin
Place, the prominent 70m high clock tower, the parapet concealing the roof,
pediments (conventional and unconventional) highlighting the main entry, a
ground floor arcade, piers treated as pilasters, and decorative elements on the
skyline. The building's walls are constructed from Pyrmont sandstone, and the
arcades have monolithic grey granite columns on massive bases and carved
capitals. The building has a basement, ground floor, a mezzanine and three
upper floors, and a later attic. The GPO is recognised as possessing the greatest monumental stone street facade in Sydney, and the facade runs for an entire block. The GPO is the biggest and grandest post office in NSW and, with the Melbourne GPO, the most impressive in Australia. The Sydney GPO holds a key place in the Martin Place streetscape of central Sydney, and it has social significance for its lengthy association with postal services. | ||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||
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A post office first stood on this site in 1830, but owing to
overcrowding a few decades later, a new building was needed. Colonial Architect
James Barnet drew plans in 1865, and construction commenced the following year.
Builder John Young did much of the work. Completion of this first phase of the
GPO, fronting George Street, was celebrated in 1874. Several years later, to
Barnet's design, the building was extended to Pitt Street. The tower stonework
was completed in 1885 (the clock was completed in 1891) and the GPO's trademark
colonnade along the northern (Martin Place) facade was opened to the public in
1887. The building was extended again in the 1890s, this time to designs by
Barnet's successor, W. L. Vernon. Further additions followed in the 1900s, and
additional new buildings were erected in 1927 and 1942. As a wartime
precaution, the tower was dismantled in 1942 and re-erected in 1964. The building reflects changes in postal technology, and its expansion illustrates the growth of the NSW postal service during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The building was also the 'centre' of Sydney, with all NSW mileages being taken from there after it succeeded the Macquarie Obelisk in Macquarie Place. Significantly, in the lead-up to Federation, the building was the venue for two Postal and Telegraphic Conferences in 1896 to discuss co-ordination and integration of colonial services. In 1900 another major conference at the GPO followed the Federation referenda, and a bill for Commonwealth control of posts and telegraphs was drawn up, which in 1902 became an Act. The building was closed for safety reasons in the 1980s. Extensive alterations began in 1997, including a multi-storey hotel tower behind the main building, and the Commonwealth sold the property. The whole complex, including offices and commercial premises and a post office, opened in 1999. | ||||||||||||
| Condition and Integrity | ||||||||||||
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Most of original fittings still intact. Clock Tower restored in 1963 after being removed in 1942. (1978) In the 1980s, the building was closed for safety reasons. In 1997 work began on extensive alterations, which included a 31-storey hotel tower at the rear. The Westin Hotel opened in 1999, and some hotel rooms along with commercial premises were opened in the GPO as well. Offices were also part of the huge project. The project saw restoration of elements including the postal hall and the grand staircase. A post office operates once again in the GPO. (December 2000) | ||||||||||||
| Location | ||||||||||||
| 1 Martin Place, 368-372 George Street, 139-157 Pitt Street, Sydney. | ||||||||||||
| Bibliography | ||||||||||||
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Apperly, Richard, et al, A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1989. O'Keefe, Brendon, and Pearson, Michael, Federation: A national survey of heritage places, Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra 1998. National Trust of Australia (NSW) citation. NSW State Heritage Inventory citation. |
Report Produced Fri Nov 6 07:11:52 2026
